guillotining

verb

present participle of guillotine
as in heading
to cut off the head of French Revolutionary forces captured and guillotined countless aristocrats in the chaotic period following the downfall of the monarchy

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for guillotining
  1. heading
  2. beheading
  3. decapitating
  4. trimming
Verb
  • Cruz wants to finalize a deal before the college sports season begins in late August, to give athletes and colleges some certainty heading into the academic year.
    — Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 20 July 2026
  • The potential player pool heading into the World Cup feels vast.
    — Tamerra Griffin, New York Times, 20 July 2026
Definition of heading
Verb
  • Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, 37, was arrested in September 2025 in the beheading death of Chandra Nagamallaiah using a machete, Dallas police have said.
    — Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 July 2026
  • Eight pages later, Leucippe has to fake her own beheading to escape from pirates.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 June 2026
Definition of beheading
Verb
  • After decapitating the body, Kennedy tied the head to the top of the family's minivan with a bungee cord, making for a less-than-pleasant five-hour drive back home to Mount Kisco, New York, according to her recollection.
    — Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 26 May 2026
  • Trump took hostilities to a new level during his second term, launching strikes on land and at sea and ultimately decapitating the government.
    — Joseph Konig, PEOPLE, 13 May 2026
Definition of decapitating
Verb
  • Rather than just trimming stems and plopping them in a vase, reflexing plays with the form of the flower by gently folding petals backwards to open up the bloom.
    — Cameron Beall, Southern Living, 18 July 2026
  • Even the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are still sitting on a huge haul of future draft capital, had to start trimming their supporting cast this offseason because Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams’ max extensions kicked in.
    — Bryan Toporek, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026
Definition of trimming
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.

Browse Nearby Words

guillotines
guillotining
guilt
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Cite this Entry

“Guillotining.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/guillotining. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on guillotining

Nglish: Translation of guillotining for Spanish Speakers

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