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
“I currently know that he did not decapitate it, even though he said that’s what he was doing, so that’s what I had assumed that he did,” she said Wednesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2025
Hurricanes need warm water — which is warmed by the air — for fuel and are harmed by wind shear, which changes in upper level winds that can decapitate storm tops.
From Seattle Times ● May 11, 2022
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
Such is the sword of 266:3 Science, with which Truth decapitates error, materiality giving place to man's higher individuality and destiny.
From Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy
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
And this week he said Zambia's generation capacity had been "decapitated" by a recent drought owing to its reliance on hydroelectricity.
From BBC ● Nov. 26, 2025
"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
From the top of the clouds rose the decapitated peak of a mountain, its summit covered with snow.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
There has to be warm water, it has to run deep and there has to be little to no crosswinds decapitating the storm, he said.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 21, 2023
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
As for Mr Essama, he is now less focussed on decapitating statues, turning his attention to fundraising to build statues of Cameroonian heroes and calling for reparations for colonial era crimes.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2020
Mrs. Riversedge snipped vigorously at the nearest rose bush, incidentally decapitating a Viscountess Folkestone that was just coming into bloom.
From The Chronicles of Clovis by Saki
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.
