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
Four Haitian women who were deported from the United States in February were found beheaded and dumped in a river several months later, lawyers said in court documents.
—
Lindsay Whitehurst,
Chicago Tribune,
25 June 2026
His mother, who came from a somewhat shady family (her father had been part of a coin-forging group whose ringleaders were arrested and beheaded), helped run the inn; his sister was twelve years older.
—
Clare Bucknell,
Harpers Magazine,
23 June 2026
Protests and riots broke out in Belfast, United Kingdom, the day after a Sudanese immigrant stabbed and attempted to behead a local.
—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
9 June 2026
Royalty were drawn there too, including Maria Amalia, daughter of the exiled King of Naples and niece of the recently beheaded Marie Antoinette, who met Louis Philippe of France in 1806 in the villa.
—
Ruchira Sharma,
Condé Nast Traveler,
9 June 2026
Crucial events morphed into massive set pieces, like Louis hunting down Claudia’s killers by setting their theater on fire, exploding the motorcycles of the vampires who fled the inferno, and eventually bursting out of a manhole to behead Claudia’s main tormenter.
—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
2 June 2026
Ned wishes to reveal Joffrey’s illegitimacy, but is instead betrayed by Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen), imprisoned by Cersei, and beheaded in a public execution on Joffrey's orders.
—
Brianna Zigler,
Entertainment Weekly,
2 June 2026
Following his February arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office — the first of a senior British royal since 1649, when King Charles I was beheaded for high treason — Andrew was released after about 11 hours in police custody.
—
Stephanie Petit,
PEOPLE,
1 June 2026
Here’s another, similarly beheaded, on Seventh Avenue near 30th Street.
—
Christopher Bonanos,
Curbed,
16 Apr. 2026
Lindsay Whitehurst,
Chicago Tribune,
25 June 2026
His mother, who came from a somewhat shady family (her father had been part of a coin-forging group whose ringleaders were arrested and beheaded), helped run the inn; his sister was twelve years older.
—
Clare Bucknell,
Harpers Magazine,
23 June 2026
Protests and riots broke out in Belfast, United Kingdom, the day after a Sudanese immigrant stabbed and attempted to behead a local.
—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
9 June 2026
Royalty were drawn there too, including Maria Amalia, daughter of the exiled King of Naples and niece of the recently beheaded Marie Antoinette, who met Louis Philippe of France in 1806 in the villa.
—
Ruchira Sharma,
Condé Nast Traveler,
9 June 2026
Crucial events morphed into massive set pieces, like Louis hunting down Claudia’s killers by setting their theater on fire, exploding the motorcycles of the vampires who fled the inferno, and eventually bursting out of a manhole to behead Claudia’s main tormenter.
—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
2 June 2026
Ned wishes to reveal Joffrey’s illegitimacy, but is instead betrayed by Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen), imprisoned by Cersei, and beheaded in a public execution on Joffrey's orders.
—
Brianna Zigler,
Entertainment Weekly,
2 June 2026
Following his February arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office — the first of a senior British royal since 1649, when King Charles I was beheaded for high treason — Andrew was released after about 11 hours in police custody.
—
Stephanie Petit,
PEOPLE,
1 June 2026
Here’s another, similarly beheaded, on Seventh Avenue near 30th Street.
—
Christopher Bonanos,
Curbed,
16 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for behead
Verb
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Woodland played basketball one season at Washburn before heading to KU on golf scholarship.
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However, some bitcoin and crypto traders are betting that some of the cash that has entered the system due to the SpaceX IPO could soon be heading toward bitcoin.
Verb
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That video showed the same cat being decapitated by Martel, according to prosecutors.
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Beijing — When US and Israeli bombs first began falling on Iran at the end of February, China’s leaders were staring at the very real possibility of another friendly regime being decapitated, much like had happened with Venezuela only weeks before.
Cite this Entry
“Behead.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/behead. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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