guillotine

verb

Definition of guillotinenext
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

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Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for guillotine
  1. head
  2. behead
  3. decapitate
Verb
  • The legislation, which advanced with a 281-140 vote, now heads to the Senate, where additional spending proposals are expected to face scrutiny.
    Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 12 Dec. 2024
  • Conclusion As companies head toward 2025, adapting quickly to change, filling leadership vacuums and continuing to govern ethically will be key to finding success in the new year.
    Jon Michail, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
Definition of head
Verb
  • During the last festival in 2019, as many as 250,000 creatures were beheaded, according to animal welfare group Humane Society International (HSI).
    Chad de Guzman, TIME, 6 Dec. 2024
  • Back at Lallybroch, Claire and Jamie maneuver the shocked reactions of his family as Claire calmly shares her intel on how this upcoming revolution will result in the rich being persecuted and the king and queen being beheaded.
    Lincee Ray, EW.com, 23 Nov. 2024
Definition of behead
Verb
  • The sheer scale and scope have knocked the world’s most powerful non-state actor off-balance by decapitating a significant portion of its military leadership, including its chief of staff, its head of special operations, and key members of its elite fighting units, the Radwan Forces.
    Firas Maksad, TIME, 24 Sep. 2024
  • When Hunahpu emerged to see if the sun had risen, the creature decapitated him and took his head to be used by the gods in their sports.
    Erik Kain, Forbes, 6 Nov. 2024
Definition of decapitate
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.

Thesaurus Entries Near guillotine

guilelessness

guillotine

guillotined

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Guillotine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/guillotine. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.

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More from Merriam-Webster on guillotine

Nglish: Translation of guillotine for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about guillotine

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