decapitating

Verb

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

1. (transitive, literal) To remove the head of.
   • One machine in which Mr. Taylor takes special pride is a salmon canner, which engulfs a whole salmon, decapitates and decaudates it, skins it, blows out its viscera, cuts it into pieces, deposits them in the can, sterilizes them […]1937, Technology Review, volume 40, page 100
2. (figuratively, transitive) To oust or destroy the leadership or ruling body of (a government etc.).
   • The Russian goal at the start of the invasion had been to kill or capture Zelensky and decapitate his government.2022 December 7, Simon Shuster, “2022 Person of the Year: Volodymyr Zelensky”, in Time, archived from the original on 04 Jan 2023