as in to head
to cut off the head of
Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded for plotting against Queen Elizabeth
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Recent Examples of behead
The formidable Russell Crowe explained on X that his direct Fraser ancestry traces to Simon, the notorious 11th Lord Fraser of Lovat, whose Scots rebelliousness led to his becoming the last man beheaded on Tower Hill, in 1747.
—
Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 12 July 2025
Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.
—Jhumpa Lahiri, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
After the homicide, Caravaggio fled to Naples, then to Malta, to escape a sentence of death by beheading.
—Julie Belcove, Robb Report, 10 June 2025
There, inside the building that had until then been considered a sanctuary, they were first tied up, and then all 70 were beheaded, the groups say.
—Paul Tilsley, Fox News, 22 Feb. 2025
The bill was named after Dexter, a rescue dog who was adopted in 2024 and found beheaded in a public park days later.
—Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 June 2025
Two Islamic State members, both former British citizens who were part of a cell that beheaded American hostages, are serving life prison sentences in the United States.
—Andrew Mills, IndyStar, 12 May 2025
And while Saddam's regime was quickly beheaded, the region has had two decades of chaos and conflict since then.
—Susan Page, USA Today, 19 June 2025
After only five minutes of exposure to the parasite, 22.4% of sperm cells were beheaded.
—Bill Sullivan, The Conversation, 28 May 2025
Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 12 July 2025
Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.
—Jhumpa Lahiri, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
After the homicide, Caravaggio fled to Naples, then to Malta, to escape a sentence of death by beheading.
—Julie Belcove, Robb Report, 10 June 2025
There, inside the building that had until then been considered a sanctuary, they were first tied up, and then all 70 were beheaded, the groups say.
—Paul Tilsley, Fox News, 22 Feb. 2025
The bill was named after Dexter, a rescue dog who was adopted in 2024 and found beheaded in a public park days later.
—Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 June 2025
Two Islamic State members, both former British citizens who were part of a cell that beheaded American hostages, are serving life prison sentences in the United States.
—Andrew Mills, IndyStar, 12 May 2025
And while Saddam's regime was quickly beheaded, the region has had two decades of chaos and conflict since then.
—Susan Page, USA Today, 19 June 2025
After only five minutes of exposure to the parasite, 22.4% of sperm cells were beheaded.
—Bill Sullivan, The Conversation, 28 May 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for behead
Verb
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Temperatures will be in the high 90s throughout the week and heading into the weekend.—
Joyce Orlando,
The Tennessean,
22 July 2025
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Here’s a position-by-position breakdown of Johnson’s offense heading into camp.—
Sean Hammond,
Chicago Tribune,
21 July 2025
Verb
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One article suggested positioning the portrait so that the head was near the nail bed; otherwise when the wearer cut their nails, the portrait would be decapitated.—
Anika Burgess
July 17,
Literary Hub,
17 July 2025
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Israel’s 12-day campaign is the first time the long-running shadow conflict between the Middle East’s military superpowers exploded into open warfare, decapitating the upper echelons of Iran’s military and nuclear leadership.—
Nabih Bulos
Foreign Correspondent,
Los Angeles Times,
5 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Behead.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/behead. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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