"off with someone's head" meaning in English

See off with someone's head in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Phrase

IPA: /ˈɒf wɪð ˈsʌmwənz ˈhɛd/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈɔf wɪθ ˈsʌmwənz ˈhɛd/ [General-American]
Etymology: From the common use in past times of decapitation as a method of execution for prominent persons. Head templates: {{head|en|phrase}} off with someone's head
  1. (usually humorous) Used to express a desire to kill the person in question. Tags: humorous, usually Categories (topical): Death Related terms: have someone's head, heads will roll
    Sense id: en-off_with_someone's_head-en-phrase-mxNjhNOX Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_text": "From the common use in past times of decapitation as a method of execution for prominent persons.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
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      "expansion": "off with someone's head",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Death",
          "orig": "en:Death",
          "parents": [
            "Body",
            "Life",
            "All topics",
            "Nature",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Some nerve! Off with their heads! shouted the master of ceremonies with mock ferocity, while the audience laughed.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "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 Company:",
          "text": "\"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 flower-pot that stood near.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used to express a desire to kill the person in question."
      ],
      "id": "en-off_with_someone's_head-en-phrase-mxNjhNOX",
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(usually humorous) Used to express a desire to kill the person in question."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "have someone's head"
        },
        {
          "word": "heads will roll"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "humorous",
        "usually"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈɒf wɪð ˈsʌmwənz ˈhɛd/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈɔf wɪθ ˈsʌmwənz ˈhɛd/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "off with someone's head"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "From the common use in past times of decapitation as a method of execution for prominent persons.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "off with someone's head",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "have someone's head"
    },
    {
      "word": "heads will roll"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English humorous terms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English phrases",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "en:Death"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Some nerve! Off with their heads! shouted the master of ceremonies with mock ferocity, while the audience laughed.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "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 Company:",
          "text": "\"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 flower-pot that stood near.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used to express a desire to kill the person in question."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(usually humorous) Used to express a desire to kill the person in question."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "humorous",
        "usually"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈɒf wɪð ˈsʌmwənz ˈhɛd/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈɔf wɪθ ˈsʌmwənz ˈhɛd/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "off with someone's head"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.