Definition

1. Verb:
   • To cut off the head of (a person or animal): The primary meaning refers to the act of removing the head from a body, typically as a method of execution or killing.
   • To remove the leadership or most important part of (an organization, system, etc.): Used figuratively to describe the removal of the leading or controlling element of a group or structure.

Usage Examples

• Literal meaning:
  • The guillotine was used to decapitate prisoners during the French Revolution.
  • The knight decapitated the dragon with one swift stroke of his sword.
• Figurative meaning:
  • The scandal decapitated the company's senior management team.
  • The new law effectively decapitates the power of the old regulatory body.

Advanced Usage

• "to be decapitated": To have one's head cut off; to be killed in this manner.
  • The statue was found decapitated by vandals.
• Used in formal, historical, or news contexts to describe beheadings, often carrying a connotation of violence, justice, or political purge.

Variants and Related Words

• Decapitation (noun): The act of decapitating or the state of being decapitated.
  • The decapitation was a public spectacle.
• Behead (verb): A close synonym for the literal meaning of decapitate.
  • The king ordered the traitor to be beheaded.

Synonyms

• Behead: To cut off the head of.
• Execute: To carry out a sentence of death (decapitation is one method).
• Guillotine: Specifically to execute using a guillotine.

Related Phrases

• "decapitate the leadership": A common figurative phrase meaning to remove the top leaders of an organization.
  • The coup's first goal was to decapitate the military leadership.

Related Idioms

• "To cut off the head of the snake": An idiom similar to the figurative use of decapitate, meaning to defeat an organization by targeting its leader.
  • Their strategy was to cut off the head of the snake by capturing the general.

Verb

1. cut the head of
   • the French King was beheaded during the Revolution