decapitate

English

Etymology

From French décapiter, from Late Latin decapitare, from de- + caput.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈkap.ɪt.eɪt/
(US) IPA^(key): /diˈkæp.ə.teɪt/, /diˈkæp.ɪ.teɪt/, /dɪ-/, /də-/
Audio (US): (file)

Verb

decapitate (third-person singular simple present decapitates, present participle decapitating, simple past and past participle decapitated)

(transitive, literal) To remove the head of.
- 1937, Technology Review, volume 40, page 100:
  One machine in which Mr. Taylor takes special pride is a salmon canner, which engulfs a whole salmon, decapitates and decaudates it, skins it, blows out its viscera, cuts it into pieces, deposits them in the can, sterilizes them […]
- 1993, William S. Burroughs, Esquire‎^[1], volume 120, page 78:
  The hippie wasn't wearing any shoes. January in Boston and he's in sandals, standing there screaming, “Look what she did! Look what the crazy fucking bitch did!” --like it was my pleasure to risk decapitating myself by slamming through the hippiemobile.
- 2013, “Accident: 202674701 - Worker Paving Airstrip Is Struck By Airplane And Decapitated”, in Occupational Safety and Health Administration‎^[2], archived from the original on 15 July 2022:
  Employee #1 was in the center of the runway, working alone approximately 300 feet from the end that led to the plane loading area and hangars. A pilot flying an airplane, Schweizer Aircraft Corporation Model G-164 B, approached the airstrip from the opposite end and landed. As the pilot taxied the plane toward the hangar, the plane's propeller struck Employee #1 in the head and decapitated him.
(transitive, figurative) To oust or destroy the leadership or ruling body of (a government etc.).
- December 7 2022, Simon Shuster, “2022 Person of the Year: Volodymyr Zelensky”, in Time‎^[3]:
  The Russian goal at the start of the invasion had been to kill or capture Zelensky and decapitate his government.

Synonyms

Antonyms

recapitate

Hyponyms

guillotine

Derived terms

Translations

remove the head of — see behead

Italian

Verb

decapitate

second-person plural present and imperative of decapitare

Spanish

Verb

decapitate

second-person singular voseo imperative of decapitar combined with te