Decapitate

//diˈkæp.ə.teɪt// verb

verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To remove the head of. transitive

    "One machine in which Mr. Taylor takes special pride is a salmon canner, which engulfs a whole salmon, decapitates and decaudates it, skins it, blows out its viscera, cuts it into pieces, deposits them in the can, sterilizes them […]"

  2. 2
    cut the head of wordnet
  3. 3
    To oust or destroy the leadership or ruling body of (a government etc.). figuratively, transitive

    "The Russian goal at the start of the invasion had been to kill or capture Zelensky and decapitate his government."

Synonyms

All synonyms
beheadbeheaddecollatedecollatebowstringburn

Example

More examples

"Mennad wanted to decapitate Baya."

Etymology

From French décapiter, from Late Latin decapitare, from de- + caput.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.