behead
[bih-hed]
- to cut off the head of; kill or execute by decapitation.
- Geology. (of a pirate stream) to divert the headwaters of (a river, stream, etc.).
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Origin of behead
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for behead
Contemporary Examples
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.
Historical Examples
There was a Thorpe among the judges who voted to behead him.
The Market-PlaceHarold Frederic
Then they made it appear that they were going to behead Man Sing.
In the Forbidden LandArnold Henry Savage Landor
Therefore, in order to realize the perfection, let us behead them.
Sophisms of the ProtectionistsFrederic Bastiat
We could not behead it, as the Tibetans would not trust us with a knife or sword.
An Explorer's Adventures in TibetA. Henry Savage Landor
This is to signify that, as a member of the royal family, he has authority to behead them.
Modern PersiaMooshie G. Daniel
behead
- (tr) to remove the head from; decapitate
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Word Origin
Old English behēafdian, from be- + heafod head; related to Middle High German behoubeten
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for behead
v.
Old English beheafdian, from be-, here with privative force, + heafod (see head (n.)). Related: Beheaded; beheading.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper