guillotine

as in to head
to cut off the head of French Revolutionary forces captured and guillotined countless aristocrats in the chaotic period following the downfall of the monarchy

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for guillotine
Verb
  • Her character Dani Dupree is the youngest of two sisters in the esteemed and affluent Dupree family, headed by patriarch Vernon Dupree (Clifton Davis), mother Anita Dupree (Tamara Tunie) and sister Dr. Nicole Dupree Richardson (Daphnée Duplaix).
    Charmaine Patterson, People.com, 27 Feb. 2025
  • Slater's nomination now heads to the full Senate for a vote.
    Mackenzie Weinger, Axios, 27 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • On February 8, 1587, the executioner’s ax struck three times, beheading Mary, Queen of Scots.
    Sarah Holzmann, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Feb. 2025
  • Some have been beheaded with sledgehammers, others completely torn down.
    Vivian Jones, The Tennessean, 17 Aug. 2024
Verb
  • Lynne Ladner, the town manager of Ocean Ridge, told CBS affiliate WPEC that the man was pulled into the wood chipper up to his shoulders and was decapitated.
    Kierra Frazier, CBS News, 29 Jan. 2025
  • She was born in Louisville, Ky., the daughter of a man with schizophrenia who, in 1983, decapitated a 76-year-old woman.
    Eric Jason Martin Krish Seenivasan Aaron Esposito Quinton Kamara, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2025
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.

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Guillotine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/guillotine. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on guillotine

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!