head

noun

• 1the upper part of the human body, or the front or upper part of the body of an animal, typically separated from the rest of the body by a neck, and containing the brain, mouth, and sense organs.
• the head regarded as the location of intellect, imagination, and memory:whatever comes into my head
• (head for) an aptitude for or tolerance of:she had a good head for business a head for heights
• informal a headache, especially one resulting from intoxication.
• the height or length of a head as a measure:he was beaten by a head
• (heads) the side of a coin bearing the image of a head (used when tossing a coin to determine a winner):heads or tails?
• the antlers of a deer: stags yearly cast their heads in March

• 2a thing resembling a head either in form or in relation to a whole, in particular:
• the cutting, striking, or operational end of a tool, weapon, or mechanism.
• the flattened or knobbed end of a nail, pin, screw, or match.
• the ornamented top of a pillar or column.
• a compact mass of leaves or flowers at the top of a stem, especially a capitulum:huge heads of fluffy cream flowers
• the edible leafy part at the top of the stem of such green vegetables as cabbage and lettuce.

• 3the front, forward, or upper part or end of something, in particular:
• the upper end of a table or bed:he sat down at the head of the cot
• the upper horizontal part of a window frame or door frame.
• the flat end of a cask or drum.
• the front of a queue or procession: at the head of the queue
• the top of a page.
• short for headline.
• the top of a flight of stairs or steps.
• the foam on top of a glass of beer, or the cream on the top of milk.
• the source of a river or stream.
• the end of a lake or inlet at which a river enters.
• [usually in place names] a promontory:Beachy Head
• the top of a ship’s mast.
• the bows of a ship.
• short for cylinder head.

• 4a person in charge of something; a director or leader:the head of the Dutch Catholic Church
• Britishshort for headmaster, headmistress, or head teacher.

• 5a person considered as a numerical unit:they paid fifty pounds a head
• [treated as plural] a number of cattle or game as specified:seventy head of dairy cattle

• 6a component in an audio, video, or information system by which information is transferred from an electrical signal to the recording medium, or vice versa.
• the part of a record player that holds the playing cartridge and stylus.
• short for printhead.

• 7a body of water kept at a particular height in order to provide a supply at sufficient pressure:an 8 m head of water in the shafts
• the pressure exerted by a head of water or by a confined body of steam:a good head of steam on the gauge

• 8 Nautical a toilet on a ship or boat: they were cleaning out the heads

• 9 Grammar the word that governs all the other words in a phrase in which it is used, having the same grammatical function as the whole phrase.

• 10 [mass noun] Geology a superficial deposit of rock fragments, formed at the edge of an ice sheet by repeated freezing and thawing and then moved downhill.

adjective

• chief; principal:the head waiter

verb

• 1be in the leading position on:the St George’s Day procession was headed by the mayor
• be in charge of:an organizational unit headed by a line manager she headed up the Jubilee Year programme

• 2give a title or caption to:an article headed ‘The Protection of Human Life’
• (as adjective headed) having a printed heading, typically the name and address of a person or organization:headed notepaper

• 3 [no object, with adverbial of direction] (also be headed) move in a specified direction:he was heading for the exit we were headed in the wrong direction
• (head for) appear to be moving inevitably towards (something, especially something undesirable):the economy is heading for recession
• [with object and adverbial of direction] direct or steer in a specified direction:she headed the car towards them

• 4 Soccer shoot or pass (the ball) with the head:a corner kick that Moody headed into the net

• 5lop off the upper part or branches of (a plant or tree): the willow is headed every three or four years

• 6 [no object] (of a lettuce or cabbage) form a head.