head

head

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of head in English

English Online Dictionary. What means head‎? What does head mean?

English

Alternative forms

  • heed, hed (obsolete)
  • 'ead (UK, eye dialect)

Pronunciation

  • enPR: hĕd, IPA(key): /ˈhɛd/
  • (Early Modern) IPA(key): /hɛd/, /hɛːd/
  • Rhymes: -ɛd

Etymology 1

    From Middle English hed, heed, heved, heaved, from Old English hēafd-, hēafod (“head; top; source, origin; chief, leader; capital”), from Proto-West Germanic *haubud, from Proto-Germanic *haubudą (“head”), from Proto-Indo-European *káput. The modern word comes from Old English oblique stem hēafd-, the expected Modern English outcome for hēafod would be *heaved (similar to the Middle English word). Doublet of cape, capo, caput, chef, chief, and Howth.

    Cognate with Scots heid, hede, hevid, heved (“head”), Old English hafola (“head”), North Frisian hood (“head”), Dutch hoofd (“head”), German Haupt (“head”), Swedish huvud (“head”), Danish hoved (“head”), Icelandic höfuð (“head”), Latin caput (“head”), Sanskrit कपाल (kapāla, “skull”), Hindi कपाल (kapāl, “skull”).

    Noun

    head (countable and uncountable, plural heads or head)

    2. (countable) The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.
      Synonyms: caput, pate, (slang) noggin, loaf, nut, noodle, (UK slang) bonce; see also Thesaurus:head
      1. (people) To do with heads.
        1. Mental or emotional aptitude or skill.
          Synonym: mind
        2. (figurative, metonymically) Mind; one's own thoughts.
        3. A headache; especially one resulting from intoxication.
        4. A headdress; a covering for the head.
        5. (figurative, metonymically) An individual person.
      2. (animals) To do with heads.
        2. (plural head) A single animal; measure word for livestock and game.
        3. The population of game.
        4. The antlers of a deer.
    4. (countable) The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
      Antonyms: base, bottom, underside, foot, tail
      1. The end of a table.
        1. The end of a rectangular table furthest from the entrance; traditionally considered a seat of honor.
        2. (billiards) The end of a pool table opposite the end where the balls have been racked.
      2. (countable) The principal operative part of a machine or tool.
        1. The end of a hammer, axe, golf club, or similar implement used for striking other objects.
        2. The end of a nail, screw, bolt, or similar fastener which is opposite the point; usually blunt and relatively wide.
          Antonyms: point, tip
        3. The sharp end of an arrow, spear, or pointer.
        4. (lacrosse) The top part of a lacrosse stick that holds the ball.
        5. (music) A drum head, the membrane which is hit to produce sound.
        6. A machine element which reads or writes electromagnetic signals to or from a storage medium.
        7. (computing) The part of a disk drive responsible for reading and writing data.
        8. (automotive) The cylinder head, a platform above the cylinders in an internal combustion engine, containing the valves and spark plugs.
        9. (machining) A milling head, a part of a milling machine that houses the spindle.
      3. (uncountable, countable) The foam that forms on top of beer or other carbonated beverages.
      5. (engineering) The end cap of a cylindrically-shaped pressure vessel.
      7. (coopering) The end cap of a cask or other barrel.
        Synonym: barrelhead
      8. (geology) The uppermost part of a valley.
      9. (British, geology) Deposits near the top of a geological succession.
      10. (journalism) Short for headline.
      11. (medicine) The end of an abscess where pus collects.
      12. (music) The headstock of a guitar.
      13. (nautical) A leading component.
        1. The top edge of a sail.
        2. The bow of a vessel.
      14. (British) A headland.
    5. (social, countable, metonymically) A leader or expert.
      Synonyms: boss, chief, leader
      Antonym: subordinate
      1. The place of honor or command; the most important or foremost position; the front.
      2. (UK, Ireland, metonymically) A headteacher.
        Synonyms: headmaster, headmistress, (US) principal
      3. (music, slang, figurative, metonymically) A person with an extensive knowledge of hip hop.
    6. A significant or important part.
      1. A beginning or end, a protuberance.
        1. The source of a river; the end of a lake where a river flows into it.
        2. A clump of seeds, leaves or flowers; a capitulum.
          1. An ear of wheat, barley, or other small cereal.
          2. The leafy top part of a tree.
        3. (anatomy) The rounded part of a bone fitting into a depression in another bone to form a ball-and-socket joint.
        5. (nautical) The toilet of a ship.
          Synonyms: see Thesaurus:toilet, Thesaurus:bathroom
        6. (in the plural) Tiles laid at the eaves of a house.
          • 1875, Edward H. Knight, Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary, vol. II, page 1086
            Heads. (Roofing.) Tiles which are laid at the eaves of a house
      2. A component.
        1. (jazz) The principal melody or theme of a piece.
        3. (linguistics) A morpheme that determines the category of a compound or the word that determines the syntactic type of the phrase of which it is a member.
          Holonym: phrase
    7. Headway; progress.
    8. Topic; subject.
    9. (only in the singular) Denouement; crisis.
      • 1712 October 18, anonymous letter in The Spectator, edited by Joseph Addison, no. 513, collected in The Works of the Late Right Honorable Joseph Addison, Esq, Birmingham: John Baskerville, published 1761, volume IV, page 10:
        The indiſpoſition which has long hung upon me, is at laſt grown to ſuch an head, that it muſt quickly make an end of me, or of itſelf.
    11. (fluid dynamics) Pressure and energy.
      1. (uncountable, countable) A buildup of fluid pressure, often quantified as pressure head.
        Hyponyms: head of steam, hydraulic head
        How much head do you have at the Glens Falls feeder dam?
      2. The difference in elevation between two points in a column of fluid, and the resulting pressure of the fluid at the lower point.
      3. More generally, energy in a mass of fluid divided by its weight.
    12. (slang, vulgar, uncountable) Fellatio or cunnilingus; oral sex.
      Synonyms: blowjob; see also Thesaurus:oral sex
    13. (slang) The glans penis.
    14. (slang, countable) A heavy or habitual user of illicit drugs.
    15. (obsolete) Power; armed force.
    Gallery
    Derived terms
    Descendants
    • → Japanese: ヘッド (heddo)
    • Sranan Tongo: ede
      • Aukan: ede
      • Saramaccan: hédi
    Translations

    Adjective

    head (not comparable)

    1. Of, relating to, or intended for the head.
    Translations

    Verb

    head (third-person singular simple present heads, present participle heading, simple past and past participle headed)

    2. (transitive) To be in command of. (See also head up.)
    3. (transitive) To come at the beginning or front of; to commence.
    4. (transitive) To strike with the head
    5. (intransitive) To move in a specified direction.
    6. (fishing, transitive) To remove the head from (a fish).
      Coordinate terms: bone, debone, gut, scale, descale
      Near-synonyms: behead, dehead
    7. (intransitive) To originate; to spring; to have its course, as a river.
    8. (intransitive) To form a head.
    10. (transitive, of hardware) To form a head (on or to); to fit or furnish (something) with a head.
    11. (transitive) To cut off the top of; to lop off.
    12. (transitive, obsolete) To behead; to decapitate.
    13. To go in front of.
    14. To get in the front of, so as to hinder or stop; to oppose.
    15. (by extension) To check or restrain.
    16. To set on the head.
    Derived terms
    Related terms
    • ahead
    • knucklehead
    • railhead
    • smackhead
    Translations

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English heed, from Old English hēafod- (“main”), from Proto-West Germanic *haubida-, derived from the noun *haubid (“head”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian hööft-, West Frisian haad-, Dutch hoofd-, German Low German höövd-, German haupt-.

    Adjective

    head (not comparable)

    1. Foremost in rank or importance.
      Synonym: chief
    2. Placed at the top or the front.
      Synonyms: first, top
    3. Coming from in front.
      Synonyms: foot, tail
    Translations

    References

    Anagrams

    • DHEA, ahed, hade

    Estonian

    Adjective

    head

    1. inflection of hea:
      1. partitive singular
      2. nominative plural

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    Related Words

    redhead

    overhead

    headset

    heads

    headquarters

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    This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.