Definition of 'head'
Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present
tense heads
, present participle heading
, past tense, past participle headed
Head is used in a large number of expressions which are explained under other words in
the dictionary. For example, the expression 'off the top of your head' is explained
at 'top'.
1. countable noun
Your head is the top part of your body, which has your eyes, mouth, and brain in it.
She turned her head away from him.
He took a puff on his pipe and shook his head.
You can also use head as a measure of distance, equal to the length of a person's or animal's head.
The third gorilla was taller by a head.
2. countable noun
You can use head to refer to your mind and your mental abilities.
I can't get that song out of my head.
...an exceptional analyst who could do complex maths in his head.
3. singular noun
The head of a line of people or vehicles is the front of it, or the first person or vehicle in
the line.
...the head of the queue.
[+ of]
We took our place at the head of the convoy.
4. verb
If someone or something heads a line or
procession, they are at the front of it.
The parson, heading the procession, had just turned right towards the churchyard.
[VERB noun]
5. verb
If something heads a list or group, it is at the top of it.
The book has sold twelve thousand copies in three weeks, and is still heading the
list of best-sellers.
[VERB noun]
6. singular noun
7. countable noun
The head of something long and thin is the end which is wider than or a different shape from
the rest, and which is often considered to be the most important part.
There should be no exposed screw heads.
Keep the head of the club the same height throughout the swing.
...a flower head.
8. countable noun
The head of a school is the teacher who is in charge.
[mainly British] She is full of admiration for the head and teachers.
9. countable noun
10. verb
If you head a department, company, or organization, you are the person in charge of it.
He had just been appointed to head the corporate-finance department.
[VERB noun]
My department is headed by two 30-year-olds. [VERB-ed]
12. countable noun [usually singular]
The head on a glass of beer is the layer of small
bubbles that form on the top of the beer.
13. plural noun [num N of n]
14. countable noun [usually singular]
If you have a bad head, you have a
headache.
[British, informal] I had a terrible head and was extraordinarily drunk.
15. adverb [be ADVERB, ADVERB after verb]
If you
toss a coin and it comes down heads, you can see the side of the coin which has a picture of a head on it.
'We might toss up for it,' suggested Ted. 'If it's heads, then we'll talk.'.
Heads or tails?
16. verb
If you are heading for a particular place, you are going towards that place. In American English, you
can also say that you are headed for a particular place.
He headed for the bus stop.
[VERB + for]
...an Iraqi vessel heading for the port of Basra.
[VERB for noun]
It is not clear how many of them will be heading back to Saudi Arabia tomorrow.
[VERB adverb/preposition]
She and her child boarded a plane headed to where her family lived. [VERB-ed]
He could just as well have hitched a ride on a train or a truck headed west. [VERB-ed]
17. verb
If something or someone is heading for a particular result, the situation they are in is developing in a way that makes
that result very likely. In American English, you can also say that something or someone
is headed for a particular result.
The latest talks aimed at ending the civil war appear to be heading for deadlock.
[VERB + for]
If she does not work hard, Laure is heading for disaster.
[Vfor/towards n]
The centuries-old ritual seems headed for extinction. [V-ed + for]
[Also V + towards]18. verb [usually passive]
If a piece of writing is headed a particular title, it has that title written at the beginning of it.
One chapter is headed, 'Beating the Test'.
19. verb
If you head a ball in football, you hit it with your head in order to make it go in a particular
direction.
He headed the ball across the face of the goal.
[VERB noun preposition/adverb]
[Also VERB noun]20. See also
heading
21.
See
a head
22.
See
do your head in
23.
24.
See
head for sth
25.
26.
27.
28.
See
go to one's head
29.
See
go to one's head
30.
See
head over heels
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
See
off one's head
36.
37.
38.
See
over sb's head
39.
40.
41.
42.
45.
46.
47.
See
heads will roll
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of
head
Word Frequency
head in British English
noun
1.
the upper or front part of the body in vertebrates, including humans, that contains
and protects the brain, eyes, mouth, and nose and ears when present
▶ Related adjective: cephalic2.
the corresponding part of an
invertebrate animal
3.
something resembling a head in form or function, such as the top of a tool
4.
a.
the person commanding most authority within a group, organization, etc
b.
(as modifier)
head buyer
c.
(in combination)
headmaster
6.
b.
(as modifier)
head point
7.
the highest part of a thing; upper end
the head of the pass
8.
the
froth on the top of a glass of beer
9.
aptitude,
intelligence, and emotions (esp in the phrases above or over one's head, have a head for, keep one's head, lose one's head, etc)
she has a good head for figures
a wise old head
10. Word forms: plural head
a person or animal considered as a unit
the show was two pounds per head
six hundred head of cattle
11.
the head considered as a measure of length or height
he's a head taller than his mother
13.
15.
the head considered as the part of the body on which hair grows densely
a fine head of hair
16.
the source or origin of a river or stream
18.
the
obverse of a coin, usually bearing a
portrait of the head or a full figure of a
monarch,
deity, etc
Compare
tail119.
a main point or division of an argument,
discourse, etc
20. (often plural)
21. nautical
a.
the front part of a ship or boat
b.
(in sailing ships) the upper
corner or edge of a sail
d.
any vertical timber cut to shape
23.
the
taut membrane of a drum,
tambourine, etc
24.
a.
the height of the surface of liquid above a specific point, esp when considered or
used as a measure of the pressure at that point
a head of four feet
b.
pressure of water, caused by height or
velocity, measured in terms of a vertical column of water
c.
any pressure
a head of steam in the boiler
25. slang
b.
(in combination)
an acidhead
a pothead
26. mining
a road driven into the coal face
27.
a.
the terminal point of a route
b.
(in combination)
railhead
28.
29.
cylinder head
30.
an
electromagnet that can read, write, or
erase information on a magnetic medium such as a magnetic tape,
disk, or drum, used in computers, tape
recorders, etc
32.
a.
b.
any narrow margin of victory (in the phrase (win) by a head)
34. curling
the stones lying in the house after all 16 have been played
36.
against the head
38.
bring to a head
40.
give head
43.
go to one's head
45.
head over heels
47.
keep one's head
49.
make head
51.
off one's head
53.
on one's head
54.
one's head off
58.
turn heads
verb
61. (transitive)
to be at the front or top of
to head the field
62. (transitive; often foll by up)
to be in the commanding or most important position
63. (often foll by for)
to go or cause to go (towards)
where are you heading?
66. (transitive)
to provide with or be a head or heading
to head a letter
the quotation which heads chapter 6
67. (transitive)
to cut the top branches or shoots off (a tree or plant)
68. (intransitive)
to form a head, as a boil or plant
69. (intransitive; often foll by in)
(of streams, rivers, etc) to originate or rise in
70.
head them
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
headlike (ˈheadˌlike) adjective
Word origin
Old English hēafod; related to Old Norse haufuth, Old Frisian hāved, Old Saxon hōbid, Old High German houbitWord Frequency
-head in British English
combining form
indicating a person having a
preoccupation as specified
breadhead
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency
head in American English
noun
2.
b.
aptitude; ability
to have a head for mathematics
3.
the head as a symbol for the individual; person
dinner at five dollars a head
4. Word forms: plural head
the head as a unit of counting
fifty head of cattle
5.
a representation of a head, as in painting or sculpture
6.
the obverse of a coin, usually with such a representation
: often heads7.
the highest or
uppermost part or thing; top
; specif.,a.
the top of a page, column of figures, etc.
b.
a printed title at the top of a page, section of writing, etc.
d.
a headline for a newspaper story
e.
g.
the upper edge or corner of a sail
8.
the
foremost part of a thing; front
; specif.,a.
a part associated with the human head
the head of a bed
b.
the end of a
pier farthest from land
c.
the front part of a ship; bow
e.
the front position, as of a column of
marchers
f.
either end of something;
extremity
9.
the projecting part of something
; specif.,a.
the part designed for holding, pushing, striking, etc.
the head of a pin, the head of a golf club
b.
a jutting mass of rock, land, etc. as of a mountain
c.
a point of land; promontory; headland
d.
a projecting place in a boil or other inflammation where
pus is about to break through
e.
the part of a tape recorder that records or plays back the magnetic signals on the
tape
f.
10.
the membrane stretched across the end of a drum, tambourine, etc.;
drumhead
11.
the source of a flowing body of water; beginning of a stream, river, etc.
12.
a.
a source of water kept at some height to supply a
mill, etc.
b.
the height of such a source of water or the vertical distance through which it falls
c.
a
rush of water, as in a riptide
13.
the pressure in an enclosed fluid, as steam, from its own weight or applied externally
15.
the person who is foremost or in charge; leader, ruler, chief, director, etc.
16.
17. Botany
a.
18. US, Jazz
b.
an
improvised, usually
extemporaneous arrangement that is not written down
: in full head arrangement19. Linguistics
any word or word group in a construction that functions grammatically like the
entire construction
“woman” is the head of “the woman who wrote that book”
21. Music
the rounded part of a note, at the end of the stem
22. US, Slang
a.
often in combination
acidhead
b.
usually in combination
cheesehead
adjective
23.
of or having to do with the head
24.
most important; principal; commanding; first
25.
to be found at the top or front
26.
striking against the front
head winds
verb transitive
27.
to be the chief of or in charge of; command; direct
28.
a.
to be at the top or beginning of; lead; precede
often with up to head a list
b.
to take a lead over, as in a race or competition
29.
to supply (a pin, etc.) with a head
32. US
to go around the head of
to head a stream
33.
to turn or cause to go in a specified direction
to head a car for home
34. Soccer
to hit (the ball) with one's head
verb intransitive
35.
to grow or come to a head
36.
to set out; travel
to head eastward
37. US
to originate, as a river
Idioms:
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME hede, heved < OE heafod, akin to Ger haupt (OHG houbit, Goth haubith) < IE base *kaput- (orig. prob. cup-shaped) > L caput: merged in Gmc with word akin to OHG hūba, a cap, crest (Ger haube) < IE base *keu-, to bend, curve
Word Frequency
-head in American English
godhead
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word Frequency
-head in American English
suffix
a native English
suffix meaning “state of being” (
godhead;
maidenhead), occurring in words now mostly
archaic or
obsolete, many being
superseded by forms in -hood
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[ME -hede, OE *-hǣdu, f. of -hād -hood]Word Frequency
head in Chemical Engineering
(hɛd)
noun
(Chemical Engineering: General)
fluid head,
net positive suction head,
velocity head Head is a measure of pressure, which is based on the height of a column of liquid.
As water in the column pipe fills, air is released through an air release valve and
the head builds to a sufficient level above atmospheric pressure (10 to 15 psi).
The head is a measure of the liquid pressure in comparison with that of the atmosphere.
Head is a measure of pressure, which is based on the height of a column of liquid.
COBUILD Key Words for Chemical Engineering. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency
head in Mechanical Engineering
(hɛd)
noun
(Mechanical engineering: Fluid engineering)
static head Head is a measure of pressure, which is based on the height of a column of liquid.
As water in the column pipe fills, air is released through an air release valve and
the head builds to a sufficient level above atmospheric pressure.
Head is a measure of pressure at a given point in a water system, or the height of a column
of water that would produce the pressure.
Head is a measure of pressure, which is based on the height of a column of liquid.
COBUILD Key Words for Mechanical Engineering. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Examples of 'head' in a sentence
head
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Word lists with
head
parts of plantsQuick word challenge
Quiz Review
Question: 1
-
Score: 0 / 5
Which part of a plant am I?
an inflorescence, characteristic of umbelliferous plants, in which the flowers arise from the same point in the main stem and have stalks of the same length, to give a cluster with the youngest flowers at the centre
Which part of a plant am I?
the inner of two bracts surrounding each floret in a grass spikelet
Which part of a plant am I?
the small inflorescence of plants of other families, esp the sedges
Which part of a plant am I?
an inflorescence in the form of a flat-topped flower cluster with the oldest flowers at the periphery. This type of raceme occurs in the candytuft
Which part of a plant am I?
the ripened ovary of a flowering plant, containing one or more seeds. It may be dry, as in the poppy, or fleshy, as in the peach
Your score:
More idioms containing
head
Trends of
head
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In other languages
head
British English: head
/hɛd/ NOUN
leader The head of something is the person who is its leader.
He is the head of the school.
- American English: principal principal
- Arabic: رَئِيس
- Brazilian Portuguese: diretor
- Chinese: 首脑
- Croatian: poglavar
- Czech: vedoucí
- Danish: leder
- Dutch: hoofd baas
- European Spanish: jefe
- Finnish: rehtori
- French: directeur
- German: Leiter
- Greek: επικεφαλής
- Italian: capo
- Japanese: 長 統率
- Korean: 우두머리
- Norwegian: sjef
- Polish: zwierzchnik
- European Portuguese: director
- Romanian: șef
- Russian: директор
- Latin American Spanish: jefe
- Swedish: chef
- Thai: ครูใหญ่
- Turkish: baş yönetim
- Ukrainian: керівник
- Vietnamese: người đứng đầu
British English: head
/hɛd/ NOUN
part of the body Your head is the part of your body at the top that has your eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and brain in it.
The ball hit him on the head.
- American English: head body part
- Arabic: رَأْس
- Brazilian Portuguese: cabeça
- Chinese: 头
- Croatian: glava
- Czech: hlava
- Danish: hoved
- Dutch: hoofd lichaamsdeel
- European Spanish: cabeza
- Finnish: pää
- French: tête
- German: Kopf
- Greek: κεφάλι
- Italian: testa
- Japanese: 頭 body part
- Korean: 머리
- Norwegian: hode
- Polish: głowa
- European Portuguese: cabeça
- Romanian: cap
- Russian: голова
- Latin American Spanish: cabeza
- Swedish: huvud
- Thai: ศีรษะ
- Turkish: baş vücut
- Ukrainian: голова
- Vietnamese: cái đầu
British English: head
/hɛd/ VERB
If someone or something heads a line, they are at the front of it.
She headed the line on her big white horse.
- American English: head
- Arabic: يَرْأَسُ
- Brazilian Portuguese: liderar
- Chinese: 领头
- Croatian: voditi
- Czech: být v čele
- Danish: lede
- Dutch: aan het hoofd staan van
- European Spanish: encabezar
- Finnish: johtaa
- French: présider
- German: anführen
- Greek: ηγούμαι
- Italian: dirigere
- Japanese: ･･･の先頭に立つ
- Korean: ...으로 나아가다
- Norwegian: lede
- Polish: prowadzić
- European Portuguese: liderar
- Romanian: a se îndrepta
- Russian: возглавлять
- Latin American Spanish: encabezar
- Swedish: sätta kurs
- Thai: นำ
- Turkish: başı çekmek
- Ukrainian: очолювати
- Vietnamese: dẫn đầu
Nearby words of
head
Source
Definition of head from the
Collins English Dictionary
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hair or hare?
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come
came
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sweet
suite
I made myself a mug of tea.
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bass
For most of the spring and early summer her was her home in Scotland.
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