Thesaurus results for BEHEADING

beheading

verb

present participle of behead

as in heading

to cut off the head of Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded for plotting against Queen Elizabeth

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of beheading When their younger son told them Daniel was watching beheading videos online, the Fischers hit their breaking point. — Jeff Winter, CNN Money, 28 Sep. 2026 Images often associated with barbarism on screen, like beheading the dead to memorialize them, are approached with an uncanny gentleness. — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 20 Sep. 2026 In connection with the beheading threat, he was arrested on suspicion of making an interstate threatening communication. — Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Aug. 2026 Prosecutors have accused Chesser of murdering Story at their apartment and then beheading him and burning his body. — Escher Walcott, PEOPLE, 11 Aug. 2026 Eight pages later, Leucippe has to fake her own beheading to escape from pirates. — Literary Hub, 30 June 2026 D'Arcy and Matt Smith address the aftermath of Jace's death and that beheading. — Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 29 June 2026 Preparing whole fish usually entails deboning, scaling, gutting, and beheading the sea creature, a task for you—or your fishmonger. — Randi Gollin, Martha Stewart, 12 Jan. 2026 On subsequent songs, Ninajirachi sings about the destruction of her innocence through sexting, and the trauma of coming across a beheading video. — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 12 Dec. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for beheading

Verb

On July 2, 2025, a burst with energy equivalent to 1,000 suns blazing for 10 billion years lit up Fermi’s detectors, heading from a dusty galaxy about eight billion light-years from Earth.

— Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
The total money heading into state legislative campaigns pales in comparison to what Republicans have spent to hold Texas’ Senate seat.

— David Weigel, semafor.com, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of heading

Verb

Prosecutors said boater Richard Stevenson, of Lisle, was intoxicated and traveling at about 80 mph in July on the river when his pontoon hit a boat carrying Magdalena Jablonska of Des Plaines, decapitating her, authorities said.

— Robert McCoppin, Chicago Tribune, 7 Sep. 2026
After decapitating the body, Kennedy tied the head to the top of the family's minivan with a bungee cord, making for a less-than-pleasant five-hour drive back home to Mount Kisco, New York, according to her recollection.

— Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 26 May 2026

Definition of decapitating

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“Beheading.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beheading. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of beheading

verb

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