- header
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/hed"euhr/, n.1. a person or thing that removes or puts a head on something.2. a reaping machine that cuts off and gathers only the heads of the grain.3. a chamber to which the ends of a number of tubes are connected so that water or steam may pass freely from one tube to the other.4. Auto. an exhaust manifold.5. Building Trades.a. a brick or stone laid in a wall or the like so that its shorter ends are exposed or parallel to the surface. Cf. stretcher (def. 5).b. a framing member crossing and supporting the ends of joists, studs, or rafters so as to transfer their weight to parallel joists, studs, or rafters.6. Informal. a plunge or dive headfirst, as into water: He stumbled and took a header into the ditch.7. Soccer. a pass or shot made by heading the ball.8. a sign that is part of or attached to the top of a rack displaying merchandise.9. Computers. a line of information placed at the top of a page for purposes of identification.[1400-50; late ME heder. See HEAD, -ER1]
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▪ farm machinemachine for harvesting grain, developed in the United States, Canada, and Australia; along with the binder, it was standard equipment for harvesting wheat in the United States and Canada until early in the 20th century, when the grain combine was widely adopted. The header clipped the heads of grain from the stalks and elevated them into a header barge, a wagon with one low side over which the cut material could be pitched out with forks onto a stack. Later in the autumn, the grain was threshed by a threshing machine.* * *
Universalium. 2010.