head Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
    caput.
    • he stuck his head out the window
  2. noun a single domestic animal
    • 200 head of cattle
  3. noun that which is responsible for one's thoughts and feelings; the seat of the faculty of reason
    psyche; brain; mind; nous.
    • his mind wandered
    • I couldn't get his words out of my head
  4. noun a person who is in charge
    chief; top dog.
    • the head of the whole operation
  5. noun the front of a military formation or procession
    • the head of the column advanced boldly
    • they were at the head of the attack
  6. noun the pressure exerted by a fluid
    • a head of steam
  7. noun the top of something
    • the head of the stairs
    • the head of the page
    • the head of the list
  8. noun the source of water from which a stream arises
    fountainhead; headspring.
    • they tracked him back toward the head of the stream
  9. noun (grammar) the word in a grammatical constituent that plays the same grammatical role as the whole constituent
    head word.
  10. noun the tip of an abscess (where the pus accumulates)
  11. noun the length or height based on the size of a human or animal head
    • he is two heads taller than his little sister
    • his horse won by a head
  12. noun a dense cluster of flowers or foliage
    capitulum.
    • a head of cauliflower
    • a head of lettuce
  13. noun the educator who has executive authority for a school
    school principal; head teacher; principal.
    • she sent unruly pupils to see the principal
  14. noun an individual person
    • tickets are $5 per head
  15. noun a user of (usually soft) drugs
    • the office was full of secret heads
  16. noun a natural elevation (especially a rocky one that juts out into the sea)
    headland; foreland; promontory.
  17. noun a rounded compact mass
    • the head of a comet
  18. noun the foam or froth that accumulates at the top when you pour an effervescent liquid into a container
    • the beer had a large head of foam
  19. noun the part in the front or nearest the viewer
    forefront.
    • he was in the forefront
    • he was at the head of the column
  20. noun a difficult juncture
    straits; pass.
    • a pretty pass
    • matters came to a head yesterday
  21. noun forward movement
    headway.
    • the ship made little headway against the gale
  22. noun a V-shaped mark at one end of an arrow pointer
    point.
    • the point of the arrow was due north
  23. noun the subject matter at issue
    question.
    • the question of disease merits serious discussion
    • under the head of minor Roman poets
  24. noun a line of text serving to indicate what the passage below it is about
    header; heading.
    • the heading seemed to have little to do with the text
  25. noun the rounded end of a bone that fits into a rounded cavity in another bone to form a joint
    • the head of the humerus
  26. noun that part of a skeletal muscle that is away from the bone that it moves
  27. noun (computer science) a tiny electromagnetic coil and metal pole used to write and read magnetic patterns on a disk
    read/write head.
  28. noun (usually plural) the obverse side of a coin that usually bears the representation of a person's head
    • call heads or tails!
  29. noun the striking part of a tool
    • the head of the hammer
  30. noun (nautical) a toilet on board a boat or ship
  31. noun a projection out from one end
    • the head of the nail", "a pinhead is the head of a pin
  32. noun a membrane that is stretched taut over a drum
    drumhead.
  33. noun oral stimulation of the genitals
    oral sex.
    • they say he gives good head
  34. verb to go or travel towards
    • where is she heading
    • We were headed for the mountains
  35. verb be in charge of
    lead.
    • Who is heading this project?
  36. verb travel in front of; go in advance of others
    lead.
    • The procession was headed by John
  37. verb be the first or leading member of (a group) and excel
    head up.
    • This student heads the class
  38. verb direct the course; determine the direction of travelling
    maneuver; point; direct; guide; channelise; manoeuvre; channelize; manoeuver; steer.
  39. verb take its rise
    • These rivers head from a mountain range in the Himalayas
  40. verb be in the front of or on top of
    • The list was headed by the name of the president
  41. verb form a head or come or grow to a head
    • The wheat headed early this year
  42. verb remove the head of
    • head the fish

WordNet

Head noun
Etymology
OE. hed, heved, heaved, AS. heáfod; akin to D. hoofd, OHG. houbit, G. haupt, Icel. höfu, Sw. hufvud, Dan. hoved, Goth. haubip. The word does not corresponds regularly to L. caput head (cf. E. Chief, Cadet, Capital), and its origin is unknown.
Definitions
  1. The anterior or superior part of an animal, containing the brain, or chief ganglia of the nervous system, the mouth, and in the higher animals, the chief sensory organs; poll; cephalon.
  2. The uppermost, foremost, or most important part of an inanimate object; such a part as may be considered to resemble the head of an animal; often, also, the larger, thicker, or heavier part or extremity, in distinction from the smaller or thinner part, or from the point or edge; as, the head of a cane, a nail, a spear, an ax, a mast, a sail, a ship; that which covers and closes the top or the end of a hollow vessel; as, the head of a cask or a steam boiler.
  3. The place where the head should go; as, the head of a bed, of a grave, etc.; the head of a carriage, that is, the hood which covers the head.
  4. The most prominent or important member of any organized body; the chief; the leader; as, the head of a college, a school, a church, a state, and the like. "Their princes and heads." Robynson (More's Utopia).
    The heads of the chief sects of philosophy. Tillotson.
    Your head I him appoint. Milton.
  5. The place or honor, or of command; the most important or foremost position; the front; as, the head of the table; the head of a column of soldiers.
    An army of fourscore thousand troops, with the duke Marlborough at the head of them. Addison.
  6. Each one among many; an individual; -- often used in a plural sense; as, a thousand head of cattle.
    It there be six millions of people, there are about four acres for every head. Graunt.
  7. The seat of the intellect; the brain; the understanding; the mental faculties; as, a good head, that is, a good mind; it never entered his head, it did not occur to him; of his own head, of his own thought or will.
    Men who had lost both head and heart. Macaulay.
  8. The source, fountain, spring, or beginning, as of a stream or river; as, the head of the Nile; hence, the altitude of the source, or the height of the surface, as of water, above a given place, as above an orifice at which it issues, and the pressure resulting from the height or from motion; sometimes also, the quantity in reserve; as, a mill or reservoir has a good head of water, or ten feet head; also, that part of a gulf or bay most remote from the outlet or the sea.
  9. A headland; a promontory; as, Gay Head. Shak.
  10. A separate part, or topic, of a discourse; a theme to be expanded; a subdivision; as, the heads of a sermon.
  11. Culminating point or crisis; hence, strength; force; height.
    Ere foul sin, gathering head, shall break into corruption. Shak.
    The indisposition which has long hung upon me, is at last grown to such a head, that it must quickly make an end of me or of itself. Addison.
  12. Power; armed force.
    My lord, my lord, the French have gathered head. Shak.
  13. A headdress; a covering of the head; as, a laced head; a head of hair. Swift.
  14. An ear of wheat, barley, or of one of the other small cereals.
  15. (Bot.) (a) A dense cluster of flowers, as in clover, daisies, thistles; a capitulum. (b) A dense, compact mass of leaves, as in a cabbage or a lettuce plant.
  16. The antlers of a deer.
  17. A rounded mass of foam which rises on a pot of beer or other effervescing liquor. Mortimer.
  18. pl. Tiles laid at the eaves of a house. Knight. ✍ Head is often used adjectively or in self-explaining combinations; as, head gear or headgear, head rest. Cf. Head, a.
Head adjective
Definitions
  1. Principal; chief; leading; first; as, the head master of a school; the head man of a tribe; a head chorister; a head cook.
Head transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Headed; present participle & verbal noun Heading
Definitions
  1. To be at the head of; to put one's self at the head of; to lead; to direct; to act as leader to; as, to head an army, an expedition, or a riot. Dryden.
  2. To form a head to; to fit or furnish with a head; as, to head a nail. Spenser.
  3. To behead; to decapitate. Obs. Shak.
  4. To cut off the top of; to lop off; as, to head trees.
  5. To go in front of; to get in the front of, so as to hinder or stop; to oppose; hence, to check or restrain; as, to head a drove of cattle; to head a person; the wind heads a ship.
  6. To set on the head; as, to head a cask.
Head intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To originate; to spring; to have its ourse, as a river.
    A broad river, that heads in the great Blue Ridge. Adair.
  2. To go or point in a certain direction; to tend; as, how does the ship head?
  3. To form a head; as, this kind of cabbage heads early.

Webster 1913