behead

verb

be·​head bi-ˈhed How to pronounce behead (audio)
bē-
beheaded; beheading; beheads

transitive verb

: to cut off the head of : decapitate

Examples of behead in a Sentence

Louis XVI was beheaded in 1793. Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded for plotting against Queen Elizabeth.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
After only five minutes of exposure to the parasite, 22.4% of sperm cells were beheaded. Bill Sullivan, The Conversation, 28 May 2025 The 28 statues of saints were beheaded, mistaken for French kings, and some of the bells were removed and melted down. 1804: Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself emperor of France with the pope in attendance in Notre-Dame, and portions of the cathedral were restored. Marla Jo Fisher, Oc Register, 21 May 2025 The lamplight of Louisville, seen from the river, became a chain of beacon fires bringing news from Old Europe, where King Louis XVI, who gave the city its name, would be beheaded. Jonathon Sturgeon, Harpers Magazine, 29 Apr. 2025 The group beheaded Palmyra's head of antiquities, Khaled al-Assad, and then systematically blew up several of the ancient city's most important monuments. Jane Arraf, NPR, 17 Apr. 2025 But would you rather be blasted by tiny pieces — which really hurts — or beheaded or stabbed in the heart by a large shard with tape dangling off of it? Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 28 May 2025 Men on electric scooters zoomed past a square where prisoners used to be beheaded, now a few blocks away from a gleaming new metro station. Vivian Nereim, New York Times, 16 May 2025 The Scholl siblings, their friends and their professor were beheaded for urging students at the University of Munich to oppose the Nazi regime. Peter Nguyen, The Conversation, 30 Apr. 2025 But recently in the DRC, where 95% of the population are Christian, no one stopped Islamist rebels from forcing 70 Christians into a church where they were butchered, beheaded with machetes. Paul Tilsley, FOXNews.com, 21 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of behead was before the 12th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Behead.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/behead. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.

Kids Definition

behead

verb
be·​head bi-ˈhed How to pronounce behead (audio)
: to cut off the head of

More from Merriam-Webster on behead

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