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View synonyms for behead

behead

[ bih-hed ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to cut off the head of; kill or execute by decapitation.
  2. Geology. (of a pirate stream) to divert the headwaters of (a river, stream, etc.).


behead

/ bɪˈhɛd /

verb

  1. tr to remove the head from; decapitate
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Other Words From

  • be·headal noun
  • be·header noun
  • unbe·headed adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of behead1

before 1000; Middle English behe ( f ) den, beheveden, Old English behēafdian. See be-, head
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Word History and Origins

Origin of behead1

Old English behēafdian , from be- + heafod head ; related to Middle High German behoubeten
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Example Sentences

In Karnataka, meanwhile, a 25-year-old Muslim man was found beheaded for his affair with a Hindu girl, allegedly by a local Hindu vigilante group.

From Time

I mentalize beheading each axon withan engraved fountain pen.

Boleyn became queen but was beheaded for treason when she didn’t bear a son.

From Ozy

Then they took out their once‑glimmering knives, now turned brown by Kobani’s dust and rubble, and beheaded her corpse right there on the street for all their men to see.

From Time

Sometimes the Islamic State shared images of beheaded YPJ fighters on social media.

From Time

They not only kill soldiers in battle, they behead them and burn them.

When Khaled Saad answers his phone there is often a voice on the other end threatening to behead him.

Right now a young woman whose husband tried to behead her is recovering from her injuries in a Ghor hospital.

I suspect the Brits used to behead people for lesser breaches of protocol.

He stepped forward as he spoke, and his esquire gave him the two-hand Sword of State, heavy enough to behead a bisonoid.

The weak thread of his patience broke, and in a fearful passion he commanded the guards to behead me at once.

Behead a time-piece, and leave something by which treasures are protected.

Behead a gulf on the coast of Africa, and leave a lair of wild beasts.

Behead a basket or hamper, and leave standard or proportion.

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behaviour therapybeheld