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
After years of scrutiny and criticism over his ties with Epstein, his arrest was the first for a senior royal since Charles I, who was beheaded for treason in 1649.
—
Alexander Smith, NBC news, 20 Feb. 2026
Charles was arrested, tried, convicted of high treason and beheaded in 1649.
—Danica Kirka, Los Angeles Times, 19 Feb. 2026
Long gone are the days when out-of-favor lords could be imprisoned in the Tower of London or beheaded for treason.
—ABC News, 18 Feb. 2026
England had been without a king for eleven years, after Charles’s father was beheaded, on a temporary wooden platform outside Banqueting House, part of the palace of Whitehall.
—Sam Knight, New Yorker, 16 Feb. 2026
Another was almost certainly beheaded; the first vertebra of their spine was cut and there was a big cut mark on their lower jaw.
—Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 4 Feb. 2026
The couple then forced their two younger sons, ages 8 and 9, to view their siblings’ beheaded bodies and remain confined in their bedrooms without food for several days.
—Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 3 Feb. 2026
In another city, the mayor was beheaded.
—Miami Herald, 31 Jan. 2026
Judith, who beheads an opposing general in order to save her community.
—Christy Cobb, The Conversation, 16 Jan. 2026
Alexander Smith, NBC news, 20 Feb. 2026
Charles was arrested, tried, convicted of high treason and beheaded in 1649.
—Danica Kirka, Los Angeles Times, 19 Feb. 2026
Long gone are the days when out-of-favor lords could be imprisoned in the Tower of London or beheaded for treason.
—ABC News, 18 Feb. 2026
England had been without a king for eleven years, after Charles’s father was beheaded, on a temporary wooden platform outside Banqueting House, part of the palace of Whitehall.
—Sam Knight, New Yorker, 16 Feb. 2026
Another was almost certainly beheaded; the first vertebra of their spine was cut and there was a big cut mark on their lower jaw.
—Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 4 Feb. 2026
The couple then forced their two younger sons, ages 8 and 9, to view their siblings’ beheaded bodies and remain confined in their bedrooms without food for several days.
—Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 3 Feb. 2026
In another city, the mayor was beheaded.
—Miami Herald, 31 Jan. 2026
Judith, who beheads an opposing general in order to save her community.
—Christy Cobb, The Conversation, 16 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for behead
Verb
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Ray saw Suzuki headed for second base.—
Andrew Baggarly,
New York Times,
23 Feb. 2026
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Family members and Blackbird Mountain Guides officials said the group was on the last day of a three-day trip to the Frog Lake huts near Castle Peak and that the skiers were heading back to the trailhead when the slope collapsed.—
Nicole Buss,
Sacbee.com,
22 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Vecna being decapitated was so cool.—
Lexi Carson,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Feb. 2026
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There’s one splashingly gory sequence, when Maria (Matilda De Angelis), Dracula’s first disciple, goes demon and gets decapitated and staked-through-the-heart.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
7 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Behead.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/behead. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026.
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