head

—headlike, adj.

/hed/, n.

1. the upper part of the body in humans, joined to the trunk by the neck, containing the brain, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

2. the corresponding part of the body in other animals.

3. the head considered as the center of the intellect, as of thought, memory, understanding, or emotional control; mind; brain: She has a good head for mathematics. Keep a cool head in an emergency.

4. the position or place of leadership, greatest authority, or honor.

5. a person to whom others are subordinate, as the director of an institution or the manager of a department; leader or chief.

6. a person considered with reference to his or her mind, disposition, attributes, status, etc.: wise heads; crowned heads.

7. that part of anything that forms or is regarded as forming the top, summit, or upper end: head of a pin; head of a page.

8. the foremost part or front end of anything or a forward projecting part: head of a procession.

9. the part of a weapon, tool, etc., used for striking: the head of a hammer.

10. a person or animal considered merely as one of a number, herd, or group: ten head of cattle; a dinner at $20 a head.

11. a culminating point, usually of a critical nature; crisis or climax: to bring matters to a head.

12. the hair covering the head: to wash one's head.

13. froth or foam at the top of a liquid: the head on beer.

14. Bot.

a. any dense flower cluster or inflorescence. See illus. under inflorescence.

b. any other compact part of a plant, usually at the top of the stem, as that composed of leaves in the cabbage or lettuce, of leafstalks in the celery, or of flower buds in the cauliflower.

15. the maturated part of an abscess, boil, etc.

16. a projecting point of a coast, esp. when high, as a cape, headland, or promontory.

17. the obverse of a coin, as bearing a head or other principal figure (opposed to tail).

18. one of the chief parts or points of a written or oral discourse; a main division of a subject, theme, or topic.

19. something resembling a head in form or a representation of a head, as a piece of sculpture.

20. the source of a river or stream.

21. Slang.

a. a habitual user of a drug, esp. LSD or marijuana (often used in combination): feds versus the heads; an acid-head; a pothead.

b. a fan or devotee (usually used in combination): a punk-rock head; a chili head.

22. heads, Distilling. alcohol produced during the initial fermentation. Cf. tail¹ (def. 6d).

23. headline.

24. a toilet or lavatory, esp. on a boat or ship.

25. Naut.

a. the forepart of a vessel; bow.

b. the upper edge of a quadrilateral sail.

c. the upper corner of a jib-headed sail. See diag. under sail.

d. that part of the upper end of one spar of a mast that is overlapped by a spar above; a doubling at the upper end of a spar.

e. that part of the upper end of a mast between the highest standing rigging and the truck.

f. crown (def. 28).

26. Gram.

a. the member of an endocentric construction that belongs to the same form class and may play the same grammatical role as the construction itself.

b. the member upon which another depends and to which it is subordinate. In former presidents, presidents is head and former is modifier.

27. the stretched membrane covering the end of a drum or similar musical instrument.

28. Mining. a level or road driven into solid coal for proving or working a mine.

29. Mach. any of various devices on machine tools for holding, moving, indexing, or changing tools or work, as the headstock or turret of a lathe.

30. Railroads. railhead (def. 3).

31. (loosely) the pressure exerted by confined fluid: a head of steam.

32. Also called pressure head. Hydraul.

a. the vertical distance between two points in a liquid, as water, or some other fluid

b. the pressure differential resulting from this separation, expressed in terms of the vertical distance between the points.

c. the pressure of a fluid expressed in terms of the height of a column of liquid yielding an equivalent pressure.

33. Also called magnetic head. Electronics. the part or parts of a tape recorder that record, play back, or erase magnetic signals on magnetic tape. Cf. erasing head, playback head, recording head.

34. Computers. See read/write head.

35. Photog.

a. a mounting for a camera, as on a tripod.

b. the part of an enlarger that contains the light source, negative carrier, lensboard, and lens.

36. Slang (vulgar). fellatio.

37. Archaic. power, strength, or force progressively gathered or gradually attained.

38. by or down by the head, Naut. so loaded as to draw more water forward than aft.

39. come to a head,

a. to suppurate, as a boil.

b. to reach a crisis; culminate: The struggle for power came to a head.

40. get one's head together, Slang. to have one's actions, thoughts, or emotions under control or in order: If he'd get his head together, maybe he'd get to work on time.

41. give head, Slang (vulgar). perform fellatio.

42. give someone his or her head, to permit someone to do as he or she likes; allow someone freedom of choice: She wanted to go away to college, and her parents gave her her head.

43. go to someone's head,

a. to make someone dizzy or drunk; overcome one with excitement: Power went to his head. The brandy went to his head.

b. to make someone conceited or self-important: Success went to his head.

44. hang one's head, to become dejected or ashamed: When he realized what an unkind thing he had done, he hung his head in shame. Also, hide one's head.

45. head and shoulders,

a. far better, more qualified, etc.; superior: In intelligence, he was head and shoulders above the rest of the children in the class.

b. Archaic. by force.

46. head over heels,

a. headlong, as in a somersault: He tripped and fell head over heels into the gully.

b. intensely; completely: head over heels in love.

c. impulsively; carelessly: They plunged head over heels into the fighting.

47. heads up! Informal. be careful! watch out for danger!

48. head to head, in direct opposition or competition: The candidates will debate head to head.

49. keep one's head, to remain calm or poised, as in the midst of crisis or confusion: It was fortunate that someone kept his head and called a doctor.

50. keep one's head above water, to remain financially solvent: Despite their debts, they are managing to keep their heads above water.

51. lay or put heads together, to meet in order to discuss, consult, or scheme: Neither of them had enough money for a tour of Europe, so they put their heads together and decided to find jobs there.

52. lose one's head, to become uncontrolled or wildly excited: When he thought he saw an animal in the underbrush, he lost his head and began shooting recklessly.

53. make head, to progress or advance, esp. despite opposition; make headway: There have been many delays, but we are at last making head.

54. make heads roll, to exert authority by firing or dismissing employees or subordinates: He made heads roll as soon as he took office.

55. not make head or tail of, to be unable to understand or decipher: We couldn't make head or tail of the strange story. Also, not make heads or tails of.

56. off the top of one's head, candidly or extemporaneously: Off the top of my head, I'd say that's right.

57. one's head off, extremely; excessively: We screamed our heads off at that horror movie. He laughed his head off at the monkey's antics.

58. on one's head, as one's responsibility or fault: Because of his reckless driving he now has the deaths of three persons on his head.

59. out of one's head or mind,

a. insane; crazy.

b. Informal. delirious; irrational: You're out of your head if you accept those terms.

60. over one's head,

a. beyond one's comprehension, ability, or resources: The classical allusion went right over his head.

b. beyond one's financial resources or ability to pay: He's lost over his head in that poker game.

61. over someone's head, to appeal to someone having a superior position or prior claim: She went over her supervisor's head and complained to a vice president.

62. pull one's head in, Australian Slang. to keep quiet or mind one's own business; shut up.

63. take it into one's head, to form a notion, purpose, or plan: She took it into her head to study medicine. Also, take into one's head.

64. turn someone's head,

a. to cause someone to become smug or conceited: Her recent success has completely turned her head.

b. to cause one to become foolish or confused: A whirlwind romance has quite turned his head.

adj.

65. first in rank or position; chief; leading; principal: a head official.

66. of, pertaining to, or for the head (often used in combination): head covering; headgear; headpiece.

67. situated at the top, front, or head of anything (often used in combination): headline; headboard.

68. moving or coming from a direction in front of the head or prow of a vessel: head sea; head tide; head current.

69. Slang. of or pertaining to drugs, drug paraphernalia, or drug users.

v.t.

70. to go at the head of or in front of; lead; precede: to head a list.

71. to outdo or excel; take the lead in or over: to head a race; to head one's competitors in a field.

72. to be the head or chief of (sometimes fol. by up): to head a school; to head up a department.

73. to direct the course of; turn the head or front of in a specified direction: I'll head the boat for the shore. Head me in the right direction and I'll walk to the store.

74. to go around the head of (a stream).

75. to furnish or fit with a head.

76. to take the head off; decapitate; behead.

77. to remove the upper branches of (a tree).

78. Fox Hunting. to turn aside (a fox) from its intended course.

79. to get in front of in order to stop, turn aside, attack, etc.

80. headline (def. 4).

81. Soccer. to propel (the ball) by striking it with the head, esp. with the forehead.

v.i.

82. to move forward toward a point specified; direct one's course; go in a certain direction: to head toward town.

83. to come or grow to a head; form a head: Cabbage heads quickly.

84. (of a river or stream) to have the head or source where specified.

85. head off, to go before in order to hinder the progress of; intercept: The police headed off the fleeing driver at a railroad crossing.

[bef. 900; ME he(v)ed, OE heafod; c. OHG houbit, Goth haubith; akin to OE hafud- (in hafudland headland), ON hofuth, L caput (see CAPITAL¹)]

Syn. 5. commander, superior, master, principal, superintendent, president, chairman. 65. cardinal, foremost, supreme, main. 71. surpass, beat. 72. direct, command, rule, govern.

Ant. 1. foot. 65. subordinate.

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(as used in expressions)

head rhyme

Dunnet Head

Head Bessie

Head Edith

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