off with someone's head
UK/ˈɒf wɪð ˈsʌmwənz ˈhɛd/US/ˈɔf wɪθ ˈsʌmwənz ˈhɛd/
off with someone's head phrase: used to express a desire to kill the person in question.
Phrase
off with someone's head
- Used to express a desire to kill the person in question.
- Some nerve! Off with their heads! shouted the master of ceremonies with mock ferocity, while the audience laughed.
- "I see!" said the Queen, who had meanwhile been examining the roses. "Off with their heads!" and the procession moved on, three of the soldiers remaining behind to execute the unfortunate gardeners, who ran to Alice for protection. "You shan't be beheaded!" said Alice, and she put them into a large...1866, Lewis Carroll, “Chapter 8: The Queen's Croquet-Ground”, in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland_(1866)/Chapter_8), Macmillan and...
Origin of off with someone's head
From the common use in past times of decapitation as a method of execution for prominent persons.
Questions about off with someone's head
- What does off with someone's head mean?
- Off with someone's head means used to express a desire to kill the person in question.
- What part of speech is off with someone's head?
- Off with someone's head is a phrase.
- How do you pronounce off with someone's head?
- Off with someone's head is pronounced /ˈɒf wɪð ˈsʌmwənz ˈhɛd/ (UK).
Words near off with someone's head in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: off with someone's head (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “off with someone's head.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/off_with_someone%27s_head. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.