decapitate
verb
Did you know?
Decapitation is a quick and fairly painless way to go, so it was once considered suitable only for nobles like Sir Walter Raleigh, Mary Queen of Scots, and two of Henry VIII's unfortunate wives. The invention of the guillotine in the 18th century was meant to make execution swifter and more painless than hanging or a badly aimed blow by the executioner's sword.
Examples of decapitate in a Sentence
Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 19 May 2025
Some victims were mutilated, and many were decapitated.
—Monica Mercuri, Forbes.com, 16 May 2025
While this was a funeral rite for some in the Roman period, the researchers think the man was decapitated as a mercy killing after the lion bite.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 23 Apr. 2025
This is the Fisk of early Daredevil, the man who decapitated a Russian gangster by bashing his head repeatedly with a car door.
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 16 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for decapitate
Cite this Entry
“Decapitate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decapitate. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
decapitate
verb
derived from Latin decapitare "to cut off the head of," from de- "from, away" and caput "head" — related to capital
Medical Definition
decapitate
1 of 2 transitive verb
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