decapitate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
decapitates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
decapitated,
past participle, past
-
decapitating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
decapitatesimple
-
decapitatessimple
-
have decapitatedperfect
-
has decapitatedperfect
-
am decapitatingprogressive
-
are decapitatingprogressive
-
is decapitatingprogressive
-
have been decapitatingperfect progressive
-
has been decapitatingperfect progressive
Past
-
decapitatedsimple
-
had decapitatedperfect
-
was decapitatingprogressive
-
were decapitatingprogressive
-
had been decapitatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of decapitate
1605–15; < Late Latin dēcapitātus, past participle of dēcapitāre, equivalent to dē- de- + capit- (stem of caput ) head + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
When the bad-tempered Queen of Hearts cried “off with their heads!” in Alice in Wonderland, she was ordering her henchmen to decapitate those who had offended her. The verb decapitate comes from Latin de ”away” or “down” and caput “head.” Don’t confuse it with kaput, a German word that means “broken” or destroyed.” Of course, if someone were to decapitate you, you’d be pretty well kaput.
Vocabulary lists containing decapitate
The Secret Life of Bees
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Bless Me, Ultima
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Body Language: Capit, Capt ("Head")
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
You cannot decapitate a movement with no head, and you cannot sanction an organization that does not exist.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
Mr. Rubio said Sunday it was unrealistic to take more risks in the raid to decapitate more of the regime, which is fair enough.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 4, 2026
Bietz, who lives in Hanford, says he didn’t decapitate the animal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2025
On site, the workers decapitate exposed piping and pump cement into well pipes, sealing them.
From New York Times ● Feb. 22, 2023
The poor truck was rattling to the point I expected the hood to fly off and decapitate a couple of pine trees.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
Wind shear often decapitates hurricanes and makes it harder for nascent storms to develop.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 7, 2023
Not a lot of wind shear that decapitates storms?
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 31, 2022
In one telling poem, frost blithely decapitates an innocent flower in a meaningless show of its power; the flower does not react, because there is nothing unusual or objectionable about this tragedy.
From Slate ● May 17, 2016
She decapitates a squirming mealworm with her gloved thumb and feeds it with forceps to an injured, .014-ounce Eastern pipistrelle bat that probably was creamed by a car.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 25, 2011
This time Private Mucklewame leads the field, and decapitates a dandelion.
From The First Hundred Thousand by Ian Hay
Managing to survive two wars, a decapitated leadership, gutted air and naval defenses, weakened proxies and a spiraling economy have allowed it to play a weak hand strongly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
It’s already clear that Khamenei’s death does not mean that the Islamic Republic’s political and religious leadership, which is a complex bureaucratic hierarchy, has been decapitated or seriously damaged.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2026
Rubbish washes up on the island from many faraway places, with a decapitated doll from Japan once rearing its plastic head.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026
"Sometimes you'll see ant heads on the bee legs because they were feeding and in response to an attack, the bee bit the ant and decapitated it."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 13, 2025
Every nerve in his body seemed to tauten: He pulled out his wand, moved into the shadows beside the decapitated elf heads, and waited.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
While a turret-placed ammunition storage compartment is potentially vulnerable to a hit, built-in features can prevent the same level of decapitating devastation seen in the case of the T-72.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 30, 2022
Now paroled, she telegraphs her angst with sunken eyes and chapped lips; the film’s sickly yellow lighting does the same, as does Ruth’s night-shift factory gig decapitating salmon.
From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2021
“They like decapitating the tall poppies and taxing until the pips squeak.”
From Washington Times ● Oct. 6, 2021
They attack hives, destroying them in mere hours and decapitating bees in what scientists call their “slaughter phase.”
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 12, 2021
And it was with great reluctance that we refrained from decapitating the whole field of daisies at one fell sweep, when we were once allowed to touch their upturned faces.
From The Aldine, Vol. 5, No. 1., January, 1872 A Typographic Art Journal by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
