verbal phr. (American political).—Used when an official’s term of office has come to an end through change of Government, or supercession in other ways. Also TO DECAPITATE and TO BEHEAD.
1869. New York Herald, 5 Aug. ‘The axe,’ wrote a correspondent from Washington, ‘is still doing its bloody work, and HEADS ARE FLYING OFF in all directions. The clerks in the Treasury Department begin to feel anxious, as the work of decapitation will soon make an end of them also.’
1872. Daily Telegraph, 5 Jan. ‘Leader.’ At the commencement of any fresh Presidency, hundreds of Democratic employés have their HEADS CUT OFF to make room for Republicans who, in their turn, will be decapitated when the Democrats get the upper hand again.
