How to use decapitation in a sentence

16 example sentences · noun

Decapitation means beheading; the act of beheading or decapitating. Example: “If the headsman's axe was sharp and his aim was true, decapitation was a quick and relatively painless form of death.”

Examples of decapitation by meaning

nounBeheading; the act of beheading or decapitating.

If the headsman's axe was sharp and his aim was true, decapitation was a quick and relatively painless form of death.
The tortoise, possessing, like the serpent, the power of retaining life in its limbs after mutilation or decapitation, became a symbol of androgynity as well as of immortality.1941, George Ryley Scott, Phallic Worship: A History of Sex and Sex Rites in Relation to the Religions of All Races from Antiquity to the...

nounThe ousting or destruction of the ruling body of a government or other organization.

A decapitation strike carried out by drone killed many of the country's senior generals.
Even those who welcome the decapitation of the Iranian regime may feel deep unease about America’s behavior.2026 March 2, Ben Rhodes, “Trump May Come to Regret This”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

nounThe unseating of a senior politician.

The decapitation of the Foreign Secretary was a significant publicity coup for the opposition.
The Lib Dem contender hoping to accomplish a bit of pre-emptive decapitation is Andrew Crawford.2005, Simon Henig, Lewis Baston, Politico's Guide to the General Election 2005, page 223
Some also thought that the Lib Dem decapitation strategy had kept him cornered in his constituency during the campaign, unable to play a wider role.2009 May 1, Andrew Denham, Kieron O'Hara, Democratising Conservative leadership selection: from grey suits to grass roots, page 108

More sentences with decapitation

The shock of my friend's decapitation affected me viscerally, and I became paralyzed with dread.From the entry viscerally
The origin of Gates’ decapitation of the Air Force’s top leadership clearly lie with the F-22.2014 March, John A. Tirpak, “Gates versus the Air Force”, in Air Force Magazine, page 56. From the entry ire
Moreover, instead of murder, the act of decapitation contains no malice or evil intent.1933 August 2, Marshall Evening Messenger, fifty-seventh year, number 39, Marshall, Tex., page four. From the entry decapitee
Decapitation is an ancient practice in Asia with inadequate research.2020 August 23, Yawei Zhou, Shuang Lin, Rangping Qin, Hui-Yuan Yeh, Qun Zhang, “Winner takes all: reconstructing the decapitation of a…. From the entry Lu'an
IIRC, Wells specifically described the choice of Southern England as being as much about "bridgehead" as about "decapitation strike".2005 May 30, Del Cotter, “Re: The past as a foreign country”, in rec.arts.sf.written (Usenet), message-ID…. From the entry Watsonian
It will be suggested here that the myth of Perseus, involving the decapitation of Medusa, is a narrative version of ritual.2000, Nannó Marinatos, The Goddess and the Warrior: The Naked Goddess and Mistress of the Animals in Early Greek Religion, page 62. From the entry medusa
The most interesting (and clearest) was one of a decapitation carried out in the presence of a mandarin and an appreciative crowd of villagers.1929, Time, page 6. From the entry decapitee
Despite their seemingly strong hold on life, as indicated by the persistence of movement in decapitation tests, rattlers are relatively frail creatures and are easily killed.1982, Laurence Monroe Klauber, Karen Harvey McClung, Rattlesnakes, Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence, →ISBN, page 48. From the entry hold
Mortal combat and decapitation are suggested by the eight skillfully and gracefully engraved heads depicted here with their serrated necks, the prominent arrowheads, and the agnathic or jawless head regalia.2004, David H. Dye, “Art, Ritual, and Chiefly Warfare in the Mississippian World”, in Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand, Art Institute of Chicago…. From the entry agnathic

Meaning of decapitation

noun Beheading; the act of beheading or decapitating.
noun The ousting or destruction of the ruling body of a government or other organization.
noun The unseating of a senior politician.

Full definition of decapitation

Questions about decapitation in a sentence

How do you use decapitation in a sentence?: Decapitation is used as a noun. For example: “If the headsman's axe was sharp and his aim was true, decapitation was a quick and relatively painless form of death.”
What is a short sentence with decapitation?: “Decapitation is an ancient practice in Asia with inadequate research.”
What does decapitation mean?: Decapitation means beheading; the act of beheading or decapitating.

Adapted from Wiktionary: decapitation (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use decapitation in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/decapitation. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.