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
Greg Myre, NPR, 6 Apr. 2024
County Attorney Rachel Mitchell announced on Friday that a suspect accused of fatally stabbing, decapitating, and dismembering a teenager in the Tonto National Forest last summer has been indicted by a Maricopa County grand jury.
—Madeline Nguyen, The Arizona Republic, 6 Apr. 2024
When the sun and the moon alert Vishnu to this deception, Vishnu decapitates the demon — the head becomes Rahu and the body becomes Ketu.
—Harmeet Kaur, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
La Cabeza — a glittering stone in the shape of a skull on a slender neck — had been carefully decapitated.
—Carina Del Valle Schorske, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
Following the baby’s death, Lynch tells PEOPLE that hospital staff did not tell the parents that their baby had been decapitated.
—Liam Quinn, Peoplemag, 7 Feb. 2024
In other words, while there was no indication the head was removed after death, the autopsy did not rule out that Mei Li was still alive when she was decapitated.
—Lawrence Yee, Peoplemag, 16 Mar. 2024
The corpse was decapitated and missing limbs. April 18, 2003: Body identified, Scott Peterson arrested
By April 18, DNA testing confirmed the identity of the bodies as Laci and her baby.
—USA TODAY, 19 Jan. 2024
In that lawsuit, Ross alleged that the staff's negligence during her child's delivery led to her baby being decapitated.
—Esme Mazzeo, Peoplemag, 15 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'decapitate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near decapitate
Cite this Entry
“Decapitate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decapitate. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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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