decapitate

English edit

Etymology edit

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

Pronunciation edit

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

Verb edit

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

(transitive, literal) To remove the head of.
- 2013, “Accident: 202674701 - Worker Paving Airstrip Is Struck By Airplane And Decapitated”, in Occupational Safety and Health Administration‎^[1], 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^[2]:
  The Russian goal at the start of the invasion had been to kill or capture Zelensky and decapitate his government.