headsman

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of headsman Several other leading figures of the period ended their days on the executioner’s block, including the unhappy Comte de Chalais, whose headsman bungled the job and ended up frantically chopping away at his screaming victim with a small hatchet. David A. Bell, Foreign Affairs, 1 Mar. 2012 Even if your reality is the headsman’s block! Helen Shaw, Vulture, 4 Oct. 2021 Two other men, subjects of excellent Holbein drawings in the show, would keep appointments with the headsman. Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2022 Once upon a time, the queen could have sent rebels to the Tower and the headsman’s block, even relatives—especially relatives. Matt Seaton, The New York Review of Books, 9 Mar. 2021 The British prime minister has assembled a trio of headsmen to sever Britain from the mainland. Vanityfair.com, VanityFair.com, 22 Mar. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for headsman
Noun
  • Thanks to a last minute call to one of the executioners though, Janine (Madeline Brewer) is pulled from the firing line and spared.
    Matt Cabral, EW.com, 6 May 2025
  • State law allows the executioner, a private citizen paid $150 for her services, to remain anonymous.
    Raja Krishnamoorthi, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • But since taking office, the president has been tightening up his definition of freedom like a hangman’s noose.
    Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune, 23 Mar. 2025
  • Our staff plays hangman to pass some time.
    R29 Team, refinery29.com, 7 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • The executor of Humphrey’s estate sued on his behalf, claiming that the termination was unlawful and that $3,043.06 in unpaid wages plus interest was owed to the estate.
    Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 29 May 2025
  • Under the terms of the legislation, the digital replication right does not expire at a person’s death, and can be transferred and licensed by heirs, executors and others.
    Ted Johnson, Deadline, 21 May 2025
Noun
  • To populate this murderer’s row of, well, murderers, Davidson races against the clock to court talent and get them to New York in time for filming.
    Hunter Ingram, Variety, 28 May 2025
  • The public believed this story of intentionality so completely that every shark bite was essentially a murder, and every shark a potential murderer, and the beach was the scene of a crime by a deviant monster against innocent beachgoers.
    Chris Pepin-Neff, Scientific American, 26 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Headsman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/headsman. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.

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