# head
## English
### Alternative forms

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

### Pronunciation

* enPR: hĕd, IPA: /ˈhɛd/
* (Early Modern) IPA: /hɛd/, /hɛːd/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (UK):(file)
* Audio (London):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛd

### Etymology 1

Picture dictionary :
head
skull
brain
eye
nose
mouth
chin
jaw
ear
temple
neck :
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)
* (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
    Be careful when you pet that dog on the head; it may bite.
** 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 175:Afore we got to the shanty Colonel Applegate stuck his head out of the door. His temper had been getting raggeder all the time, and the sousing he got when he fell overboard had just about ripped what was left of it to ravellings.
** (people) To do with heads.
*** Mental or emotional aptitude or skill.
    Synonym: mind
    The company is looking for people with good heads for business.
    He has no head for heights.
    It's all about having a good head on your shoulders.
*** (figurative, metonymically) Mind; one's own thoughts.
    This song keeps going through my head.
**** 1935, George Goodchild, chapter 1, in Death on the Centre Court:“Anthea hasn't a notion in her head but to vamp a lot of silly mugwumps. She's set her heart on that tennis bloke […] whom the papers are making such a fuss about.”
*** A headache; especially one resulting from intoxication.
**** 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “Thrown Away”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co.; London: W. Thacker & Co., →OCLC, page 15:He found whist, and gymkhanas, and things of that kind (meant to amuse one after office) good; but he took them seriously, too, just as seriously as he took the “head” that followed after drink.
**** 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:"Mornin', Tom," he said in a husky voice. Then as the wife left the room: "Got a drop of Scotch about? I've a head on me this morning."
*** A headdress; a covering for the head.
    a laced head
    a head of hair
*** (figurative, metonymically) An individual person.
    Admission is three dollars a head.
**** 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter VII, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume III, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VIII, pages 196–197:[…] but here we are obliged to diſcloſe ſome Maxims, which Publicans hold to be the grand Myſteries of their Trade. […] And, laſtly, if any of their Gueſts call but for little, to make them pay a double Price for every Thing they have ; ſo that the Amount by the Head may be much the ſame.
** (animals) To do with heads.
*** (plural head) A single animal; measure word for livestock and game.
    200 head of cattle and 50 head of horses
*** The population of game.
    We have a heavy head of deer this year.
*** The antlers of a deer.
* (countable) The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
    Antonyms: base, bottom, underside, foot, tail
    What does it say at the head of the page?
** 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter X, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 243:Men that I knew around Wapatomac didn't wear high, shiny plug hats, nor yeller spring overcoats, nor carry canes with ivory heads as big as a catboat's anchor, as you might say.
** The end of a table.
*** The end of a rectangular table furthest from the entrance; traditionally considered a seat of honor.
    During meetings, the supervisor usually sits at the head of the table.
*** (billiards) The end of a pool table opposite the end where the balls have been racked.
** (countable) The principal operative part of a machine or tool.
*** The end of a hammer, axe, golf club, or similar implement used for striking other objects.
*** The end of a nail, screw, bolt, or similar fastener which is opposite the point; usually blunt and relatively wide.
    Antonyms: point, tip
    Hit the nail on the head!
*** The sharp end of an arrow, spear, or pointer.
    The head of the compass needle is pointing due north.
*** (lacrosse) The top part of a lacrosse stick that holds the ball.
*** (music) A drum head, the membrane which is hit to produce sound.
    Tap the head of the drum for this roll.
*** A machine element which reads or writes electromagnetic signals to or from a storage medium.
    The heads of your tape player need to be cleaned.
*** (computing) The part of a disk drive responsible for reading and writing data.
*** (automotive) The cylinder head, a platform above the cylinders in an internal combustion engine, containing the valves and spark plugs.
*** (machining) A milling head, a part of a milling machine that houses the spindle.
** (uncountable, countable) The foam that forms on top of beer or other carbonated beverages.
    Pour me a fresh beer; this one has no head.
    He never learned how to pour a glass of beer so it didn't have too much head.
** (engineering) The end cap of a cylindrically-shaped pressure vessel.
** (coopering) The end cap of a cask or other barrel.
    Synonym: barrelhead
** (geology) The uppermost part of a valley.
** (British, geology) Deposits near the top of a geological succession.
** (journalism) Short for headline.
*** 1968, Earl English, Clarence Hach, Scholastic Journalism, page 166:The content of a headline over a news story should be taken from the lead of the story. […] The head should give the same impression as the body of the story.
** (medicine) The end of an abscess where pus collects.
** (music) The headstock of a guitar.
** (nautical) A leading component.
*** The top edge of a sail.
*** The bow of a vessel.
** (British) A headland.
** A title or heading in a book or other document.
* (social, countable, metonymically) A leader or expert.
    Synonyms: boss, chief, leader
    Antonym: subordinate
    I'd like to speak to the head of the department.
    Police arrested the head of the gang in a raid last night.
** 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:“I don't know how you and the ‘head,’ as you call him, will get on, but I do know that if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble. It's bad enough to go around togged out like a life saver on a drill day, but I can stand that 'cause I'm paid for it. What I won't stand is to have them togs called a livery. […] ”
** The place of honor or command; the most important or foremost position; the front.
*** 1708, Joseph Addison, The present state of the war, and the necessity of an augmentation, consider'd‎, page 33:We saw the last Campaign that an Army of Fourscore Thousand of the best Troops in Europe, with the Duke of Marlborough at the Head of them, cou'd do nothing against an Enemy that were too numerous to be assaulted in their Camps, or attack'd in their Strong Holds.
** (UK, Ireland, metonymically) A headteacher.
    Synonyms: headmaster, headmistress, (US) principal
*** 1992 June 24, Edwina Currie, Diary:At 4pm, the phone went. It was The Sun: 'We hear your daughter's been expelled for cheating at her school exams...' / She'd made a remark to a friend at the end of the German exam and had been pulled up for talking. / As they left the exam room, she muttered that the teacher was a 'twat'. He heard and flipped—a pretty stupid thing to do, knowing the kids were tired and tense after exams. Instead of dropping it, the teacher complained to the Head and Deb was carpeted.
    I was called into the head's office to discuss my behaviour.
** (music, slang, figurative, metonymically) A person with an extensive knowledge of hip hop.
    Only true heads know this.
* A significant or important part.
** A beginning or end, a protuberance.
*** The source of a river; the end of a lake where a river flows into it.
    The expedition followed the river all the way to the head.
*** A clump of seeds, leaves or flowers; a capitulum.
    Give me a head of lettuce.
**** 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist‎, volume 101, number 3, archived from the original on 14 August 2013:Plant breeding is always a numbers game. […] The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, […] . In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.
**** An ear of wheat, barley, or other small cereal.
**** The leafy top part of a tree.
*** (anatomy) The rounded part of a bone fitting into a depression in another bone to form a ball-and-socket joint.
*** (nautical) The toilet of a ship.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:toilet, Thesaurus:bathroom
    I've got to go to the head.
*** (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
** A component.
*** (jazz) The principal melody or theme of a piece.
*** (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
**** 2022, Rodney Huddleston, Geoffrey K. Pullum, Brett Reynolds, A Student's Introduction to English Grammar, 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, page xvi:Linguists will see that we reject some assumptions quite widely held in twentieth-century generative linguistics. The differences are sharp and explicit enough that they should provide grounds for discussion without causing confusion. For example, we do not believe subordinators (‘complementizers’) or coordinators (‘conjunctions’) are heads, and we treat every day as a noun phrase headed by day rather than a determinative phrase headed by every. […] That does not mean we are legislating a theoretical view: it is always possible to stop and ask whether certain facts about syntax are better explained under one theoretical conception rather than another.
* Headway; progress.
    We are having a difficult time making head against this wind.
* Topic; subject.
    We will consider performance issues under the head of future improvements.
* (only in the singular) Denouement; crisis.
    These issues are going to come to a head today.
** 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 41:Northumberland, thou Ladder wherewithall / The mounting Bullingbrooke aſcends my Throne, / The time ſhall not be many houres of age, / More then it is, ere foule ſinne, gathering head, / Shall breake into corruption […]
** 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.
* (fluid dynamics) Pressure and energy.
** (uncountable, countable) A buildup of fluid pressure, often quantified as pressure head.
    Hyponyms: head of steam, hydraulic head
    Let the engine build up a good head of steam.
    How much head do you have at the Glens Falls feeder dam?
** The difference in elevation between two points in a column of fluid, and the resulting pressure of the fluid at the lower point.
** More generally, energy in a mass of fluid divided by its weight.
* (slang, vulgar, uncountable) Fellatio or cunnilingus; oral sex.
    Synonyms: blowjob; see also Thesaurus:oral sex
    She gave great head.
* (slang) The glans penis.
* (slang, countable) A heavy or habitual user of illicit drugs.
** 1936, Lee Duncan, Over The Wall, Dutton:Then I saw the more advanced narcotic addicts, who shot unbelievable doses of powerful heroin in the main line – the vein of their arms; the hysien users; chloroform sniffers, who belonged to the riff-raff element of the dope chippeys, who mingled freely with others of their kind; canned heat stiffs, paragoric hounds, laudanum fiends, and last but not least, the veronal heads.
** 1968, Fred Davis with Laura Munoz, “Heads and freaks: patterns and meanings of drug use among hippies”, in Journal of Health and Social Behavior, volume 9, number 2, pages 156–64:The term, "head," is, of course, not new with hippies. It has a long history among drug users generally, for whom it signified a regular, experienced user of any illegal drug—e.g., pot "head," meth "head," smack (heroin) "head."
** 2004, Martin Torgoff, “Next Stop is Vietnam”, in Can’t Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945–2000, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 177:The hutch now looks like a “Turkish bath,” and the heads have their arms around one another, passing the pipe and snapping their fingers as they sing Smokey Robinson's “Tracks of My Tears” into the night.
* (obsolete) Power; armed force.
** 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv], page 100:My lord, my lord, the French have gathered head:

##### Gallery

* The human head
* A flower head
* Head of a comet
* Head of the line
* Arrow and spear heads
* Head of a hammer
* Head of a metal spike
* Head of the hip bone
* Head of a ship
* Head of a sail
* Head of a pressurized cylinder
* Head of a two-stroke engine
* Hydraulic head between two points
* A read-write head
* Head of a guitar
* Head of a drum

##### Derived terms

* acidhead
* addlehead
* ahead
* air-head
* airhead
* angels-dancing-on-the-head-of-a-pin
* angels dancing on the head of a pin
* arrow-head
* axe head
* bagel head
* bald head
* balloon head
* bang one's head against a brick wall
* bang some heads together
* barrel head
* barrel-head
* bash someone's head
* beach-head
* beachhead
* beach head
* Beachy Head
* beak-head
* beat one's head against a stone wall
* bed head
* bed's head
* beetlehead
* behead
* besom-head
* big-head
* big head, bighead
* bite someone's head off
* bitt-heads
* blackhead
* blanket head
* blockhead
* block-head
* block head
* bobble-head doll syndrome
* bonehead
* bone head
* boss head
* Braehead
* Bray Head
* bread-head
* bridgehead
* bring to a head
* bubble-head
* bubblehead
* bucket-head
* bucket head
* bullet-head
* bullhead
* bullheaded
* bum head
* bury one's head in the sand
* butthead
* butt heads
* by a head
* cabbage-head
* cabbage head
* case head
* cash on the barrel head
* cash on the barrel-head
* cat-head
* cattlehead
* chiphead
* chowder-head
* chowder head
* chucklehead
* Circular Head
* cittern-head
* clearheaded
* coconut head
* coke head
* cokehead
* come head
* come to a head
* concrete-head
* Cone-head
* cooler heads must prevail
* cooler heads prevail
* cooler heads will prevail
* cool head
* coolheaded
* cool heads must prevail
* cool heads prevail
* cool heads will prevail
* crackhead, crack head
* crappit-head
* crosshead
* cubbridge-head
* cylinder head
* cylinder-head-sector
* deadhead
* death's head
* deaths-head, death's-head
* death's-head hawkmoth
* death's head moth
* Diamond Head
* diaper-head
* dick-head
* dickhead
* dole head
* don't worry your pretty little head
* doodie head
* dopehead
* do someone's head in
* doughhead
* dragon's head
* dropped head syndrome
* drowsihead
* drumhead
* drum-head court
* dunderhead
* Dunnet Head
* eat one's head off
* egghead
* eggheaded
* E-head
* erase head
* exploding head syndrome
* Fair Head
* fathead
* featherhead
* feeder head
* feed head
* felling head
* femur head
* figure-head
* fish head
* fish-head
* fixed head coupé
* flip on its head
* flower head
* forehead
* Forest Head
* fountainhead
* from head to toe
* fucked in the head
* funny in the head
* fused head
* Gable Head
* game-head
* Garelochhead
* Garsdale Head
* gear head
* geek someone's head up
* get into someone's head
* get one's head around
* get one's head out of one's ass
* get one's head straight
* get one's head together
* get through one's head
* gilt-head
* gilt-head bream
* give head
* give one's head a shake
* give someone his head
* give someone his head on a plate
* give someone his head on a platter
* give your head a wobble
* go and boil your head
* good head on one's shoulders
* go over someone's head
* go soak your head
* go to someone's head
* granola-head
* half a head
* hand over head
* hand someone his head
* hand someone his head on a plate
* hand someone his head on a platter
* hang one's head
* hang over someone's head
* hardheaded
* hard head, hardhead
* harm a hair on someone's head
* hashhead
* hat head
* have a head for
* have a head on one's shoulders
* have a thick head
* have eyes in the back of one's head
* have one's head read
* have one's head screwed on
* have one's head screwed on right
* have one's head screwed on straight
* have one's head screwed on the right way
* have one's head up one's ass
* have someone's blood on one's head
* have someone's head
* -head
* headache
* head-ache
* headage
* head and ears
* head and shoulders
* head band
* headbang
* head bang
* headbanger
* head beetler
* head binding
* head blight
* headboard
* head boat
* head bobble
* head-bolt
* head bolt
* head bolt heater
* head-bolt heater
* head boy
* head-butt
* head butt
* headbutt
* head butter
* head-butter
* headcarry
* head-case
* headcase, head case
* head cheese
* head chef
* headchopper
* head chute
* head coach
* headcode
* head coil
* head cold
* head collar
* head cook and bottle washer
* head cook and bottle-washer
* headcount
* head count
* head counter
* head cover
* head covering
* head crash
* head doctor
* head down, bum up
* head dress
* head-dress
* headdress
* head-emptier
* header
* head fake
* head-final
* head first
* headfirst, head-first
* headfooter
* headforemost
* headframe
* head-game
* head game
* head gasket
* headgear
* head girl
* head groom
* head group
* head honcho
* head-hop
* head house
* head-hunter
* headhunter
* head hunter
* headhunt, head-hunt
* headily
* headiness
* heading
* head-initial
* head in the clouds
* head-in-the-sand
* head in the sand
* head joint
* head-kerchief
* head kidney
* head lad
* headlamp
* headland
* head landlord
* head lease
* headless
* headlight
* head-like
* head like a sieve
* headline
* head line
* headliner
* head linesman
* headlock
* headlong
* head loss
* head louse
* headly
* head man
* headman
* headmaster
* headmate
* headmistress
* head money
* head movement
* head-note
* head note
* head office
* head of government
* head of hair
* head of household
* head of navigation
* head of state
* head of steam
* head-on
* head on
* head-on collision
* head on one's shoulders
* head orgasm
* head over ears
* head over heels
* headphone
* headpiece
* headpin
* head pressing
* head priest
* head pump
* headquarter
* headquarters
* head-race
* head race
* head rag
* head reach
* headrest
* head restraint
* head rhyme
* head roll
* headroom
* head rush
* heads
* heads and thraws
* headscarf
* head scarf
* head-scarf
* head scratcher
* head-scratcher
* head-scratching
* head scratching
* heads down
* heads-down
* head sea
* headset
* headship
* head shop
* headshrinker
* head-shrinker
* headshunt, head shunt
* head shy
* head-shy
* headsman
* Heads Nook
* Heads of Ayr
* heads of the bill
* Heads of the Valleys Road
* heads or harps
* head south
* head space
* headspace
* head-space
* head-spinning
* head-spinningly
* headstall
* headstand
* head start, headstart
* head station
* headstock
* headstone
* headstrong
* heads up
* heads-up
* heads-up display
* heads will roll
* head tax
* head teacher
* headteacher
* head tenant
* head-the-ball
* head to foot
* head to head
* head-to-head
* head to tail
* head-to-toe
* head to toe
* head to wind
* head trip
* head-trip
* head tube
* head-turner
* head unit
* head up
* head-up display
* head voice
* head wall
* headward
* headway
* headwear
* head wind
* headwind
* head wobble
* heady
* heap coals of fire on someone's head
* heels over head
* hex head bolt
* hex head screw
* hex head wrench
* Hilton Head
* hit the head
* hit the nail on the head
* hold a gun to someone's head
* hold one's head above water
* hold one's head high
* hold over someone's head
* hole in the head
* hophead
* horse head fiddle
* horsehead fiddle
* horse-head fiddle
* hot-head
* hothead
* hotheaded
* in one's head
* is your head cold
* jolter head
* jolt head nail
* juicehead
* juice-head
* juice head
* junk head
* keep a civil tongue in one's head
* keep a cool head
* keep one's head
* keep one's head above the water
* keep one's head above water
* keep one's head below the parapet
* keep one's head down
* keep one's head on a swivel
* keep one's head on one's shoulders
* keep one's head upon one's shoulders
* King Charles' head
* King Charles's head
* knob head
* knock on the head
* know one's head from a hole in the ground
* know one's head from one's ass
* know one's own head
* knucklehead
* lame-head
* lark's head
* laugh one's head off
* lay one's head
* level head
* level-headed, levelheaded
* lighthead
* lightheaded
* like a bear with a sore head
* like a chicken with its head cut off
* like a chicken with its head off
* like a chicken with no head
* like a hole in one's head
* like a hole in the head
* like one needs a hole in the head
* Lion's Head
* little head
* live rent free in someone's head
* live rent-free in someone's head
* longhead
* longheaded
* loose head
* lose her head
* lose his head
* lose one's head
* lose one's head if it wasn't attached
* lose their head
* lowlihead
* mace head
* machine head
* mad as a bear with a sore head
* mainmast head
* make head against
* make head nor tail of
* make head or tail of
* make like a baby and head out
* make neither head nor tail of
* make someone's head spin
* melon head
* metalhead
* mill head
* monk's head
* mop head
* muscle head
* mushroom head
* muttonhead
* nail the hammer on the head
* need one's head examined
* Negro-head
* nethead
* nigger head
* nigger-head
* nob head
* nob-head
* notehead
* not right in the head
* nut head
* nut-head
* object head
* oblique head
* off one's head
* off the top of one's head
* off with someone's head
* off with their head
* of its own head
* old head on young shoulders
* one's head off
* on one's head
* on your head be it
* other head
* out of one's head
* overhead
* over head and ears
* over one's head
* over the head
* pants-on-head
* pecker head
* Phillips head
* picky head
* pierhead
* pigheaded
* pillhead
* pinhead
* pin-head
* pisshead
* pithead, pit head
* pitot head
* plume head
* pointy head
* pole head
* pole-head
* pope's head
* poppy head
* potato head
* potato-head
* pothead
* pressure head
* price on someone's head
* print head
* propeller-head
* propeller head
* propellor head
* puddinghead
* pull one's head in
* pumpkin head
* put a civil tongue in one's head
* put a gun to someone's head
* put heads together
* put one's head above the parapet
* put one's head in the sand
* put out of one's head
* puzzlehead
* puzzleheaded
* queer in the head
* rail head, railhead
* raise one's head
* raw-head and bloody-bones
* read/write head
* read head
* rear one's head
* recording head
* redhead
* redheaded
* Ribblehead
* rip someone's head off
* road head
* rocks in one's head
* roid-head
* roof over one's head
* roundhead
* rowel-head
* run around like a chicken with its head cut off
* running head
* scare-head
* scratch one's head
* scream one's head off
* screw head, screwhead
* shake one's head
* sharp short-lived head pain
* sheep's head
* sherm-head
* sherm head
* short head
* short-head seahorse
* shower head
* showerhead
* shut one's head
* skinhead
* sled-head
* sled head
* sleepyhead, sleepy head
* slow head
* smackhead
* smash someone's head
* smh one's head
* snake's-head
* snake's head
* snap someone's head off
* softhead
* softheaded
* soft in the head
* sound head
* South Bird's Head
* spear-head
* Spithead
* split head
* spreadhead
* sprinkler head
* spud head
* standing on one's head
* stand on one's head
* steering head
* stick one's head in the sand
* strawhead
* stupid-head
* subhead
* subheading
* suedehead
* swelled head
* take it into one's head
* take someone's head off
* talking head
* talk over someone's head
* talk someone's head off
* tech-head
* tech head
* tetched in the head
* the fish rots from the head
* the sky will fall on your head
* thickhead
* thickheaded
* think with one's little head
* think with one's other head
* tight head
* tight-head
* too much bed makes a dull head
* Torx head
* touched in the head
* tow-head
* towhead
* Town Head, Townhead
* trail head
* Trevose Head
* tuning head
* Turk's head, turk's head
* turn heads
* turnip head
* turn on its head
* turn someone's head
* turret head
* two heads are better than one
* uneasy lies the head that wears a crown
* upside the head
* use one's head
* veg-head
* Wasdale Head
* Wearhead
* weedhead
* West Bird's Head
* West Quoddy Head
* wet the baby's head
* wig head
* windmills in one's head
* wirehead
* wise head on young shoulders
* with one's head held high
* wolf's head
* woolly-head
* would lose one's head if it wasn't attached
* would lose one's head if it wasn't bolted on
* would lose one's head if it wasn't glued on
* would lose one's head if it wasn't screwed on
* would lose one's head if it wasn't stuck on
* would lose one's head if it wasn't tied on
* would lose one's head if it weren't attached
* wrap one's head around
* write head
* wronghead
* wrongheaded
* you can't put an old head on young shoulders
* you can't put a wise head on young shoulders
* Young Nick's Head
* your head

##### Descendants

* → Japanese: ヘッド (heddo)
* Sranan Tongo: ede
** Aukan: ede
** Saramaccan: hédi

##### Translations
#### Adjective

head (not comparable)
* 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)
* (transitive) To be in command of. (See also head up.)
    Who heads the board of trustees?
    to head an army, an expedition, or a riot
* (transitive) To come at the beginning or front of; to commence.
    A group of clowns headed the procession.
    The most important items headed the list.
** 1943 November and December, G. T. Porter, “The Lines Behind the Lines in Burma”, in Railway Magazine, page 325:When it arrived, the train was headed by a "K" class 4-6-0 wood-burning locomotive, and a water-tank wagon next to the tender was immediately besieged by women and girls, clad in their picturesque national costume, all with empty kerosene tins for water, a scene which was re-enacted at each stop down the line.
** 2018, James Lambert, “Setting the Record Straight: An In-depth Examination of Hobson-Jobson”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 31, number 4, →DOI, page 491:The citations are set in smaller font, start on a new indented line and are headed with a date.
* (transitive) To strike with the head
    to head the ball
* (intransitive) To move in a specified direction.
    We are going to head up North for our holiday.
    We will head off tomorrow.
    Next holiday we will head out West, or head to Chicago.
    Right now I need to head into town to do some shopping.
    I'm fed up working for a boss. I'm going to head out on my own, set up my own business.
    Where does the train head to?
** 1960 December, Voyageur, “The Mountain Railways of the Bernese Oberland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 752:To the left towers the Jungfrau, with the train heading directly towards it.
* (fishing, transitive) To remove the head from (a fish).
    Coordinate terms: bone, debone, gut, scale, descale
    Near-synonyms: behead, dehead
    The salmon are first headed and then scaled.
* (intransitive) To originate; to spring; to have its course, as a river.
** 1775, James Adair, The History of the American Indians‎, page 223:a broad purling river, that heads in the great blue ridge of mountains,
** 1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary on the Plains, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 156:The Templeton heads in the Cloncurry ranges[.]
* (intransitive) To form a head.
    This kind of cabbage heads early.
** 1995, Anne Raver, “Gandhi Gardening”, in Deep in the Green: An Exploration of Country Pleasures, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN:To be honest, this hasn't been my Garden of Eden year. […] The lettuce turned bitter and bolted. The Green Comet broccoli was good, but my coveted Romanescos never headed up.
* (transitive, of hardware) To form a head (on or to); to fit or furnish (something) with a head.
    to head a nail
* (transitive) To cut off the top of; to lop off.
    to head trees
* (transitive, obsolete) To behead; to decapitate.
** 1822, Allan Cunningham, “Ezra Peden”, in Traditional Tales of the English and Scottish Peasantry, volume 1, page 37:I tell thee, man of God, the uncharitableness of the sect to which thou pertainest has thronged the land of punishment as much as those who headed, and hanged, and stabbed, and shot, and tortured.
** c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:If you head, and hang all that offend that way but for ten yeare together; you'll be glad to giue out a Commission for more heads
* To go in front of.
    to head a drove of cattle
    to head a person
* To get in the front of, so as to hinder or stop; to oppose.
    The wind headed the ship and made progress difficult.
* (by extension) To check or restrain.
* To set on the head.
    to head a cask

##### Derived terms

* behead
* double-head
* head for the hills
* head off
* where the puck is heading

##### Related terms

* ahead
* knucklehead
* railhead
* smackhead

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § 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)
* Foremost in rank or importance.
    Synonym: chief
    the head cook
** 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXXIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 307:At the far end of the houses the head gardener stood waiting for his mistress, and he gave her strips of bass to tie up her nosegay. This she did slowly and laboriously, with knuckly old fingers that shook.
* Placed at the top or the front.
    Synonyms: first, top
* Coming from in front.
    Synonyms: foot, tail
    head sea
    head wind

##### Translations
### References

* ↑ Dobson, E. J. (1957) English pronunciation 1500-1700‎, second edition, volume II: Phonology, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1968, →OCLC, § 30, page 502.

### Anagrams

* DHEA, ahed, hade

## Estonian
### Adjective

head
* inflection of hea:
** partitive singular
** nominative plural