What does behead mean?

Definitions for behead
bɪˈhɛdbe·head

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word behead.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. decapitate, behead, decollateverb

    cut the head of

    "the French King was beheaded during the Revolution"

Wiktionary

  1. beheadverb

    To remove the head.

  2. Etymology: beheafdian, from be- (with privative force), + heafod

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To Beheadverb

    To deprive of the head; to kill by cutting off the head.

    Etymology: from be and head.

    See a reverend Syracusan merchant
    Beheaded publickly. William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet.

    His beheading he underwent with all christian magnanimity. Edward Hyde, b. vii.

    On each side they fly,
    By chains connext, and, with destructive sweep,
    Behead whole troops at once. Philips.

    Mary, queen of the Scots, was beheaded in the reign of queen Elizabeth I . Joseph Addison, on Italy.

ChatGPT

  1. behead

    To behead means to cut off the head of a person or animal, typically as a form of execution. It can also refer to the removal of a leader or ruler. The term can also be used figuratively in certain contexts.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Beheadverb

    to sever the head from; to take off the head of

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Behead

    be-hed′, v.t. to cut off the head.—ns. Behead′al (rare); Behead′ing, the act of cutting off the head.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of behead in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of behead in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of behead in a Sentence

  1. Ian Rintoul:

    I mean, they really think that they can behead the movement by removing a handful of individuals from the compounds, but it's patently not the case.

  2. Mustafa Bali:

    They are frightening the people, they behead people, explode bombs in markets, they still create an atmosphere where it is impossible for people to escape from them.

  3. Deborah Walsh:

    The first allegation is that, between 15 and 26 March 2015, the defendant incited another person to commit an act of terrorism, namely to carry out an attack at an ANZAC parade in Australia with the aim of killing and/or causing serious injury to people, the second allegation is that on 18 March 2015, the defendant incited another person to behead someone in Australia.

  4. Selvedin Beganovic:

    When did (the Prophet) Muhammad ever behead anyone? when did he take a knife and slaughter an innocent journalist?

  5. Tim Collins:

    The effect of the ambulance-chasing lawyers and the play-it-safe judges is that we have got to the point where we have lost our operational capability to do tactical questioning. That in itself brings risks to the lives of the people we deploy, these insurgents are not nice people. These are criminals. They behead people ; they keep sex slaves. They are not normal people.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

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Translations for behead

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"behead." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 9 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/behead>.

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