Definition Definition

head - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'head' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Head [ a.]
- Principal; chief; leading; first; as, the head master of a school; the head man of a tribe; a head chorister; a head cook.
2 . Head [ n.]
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Each one among many; an individual; -- often used in a plural sense; as, a thousand head of cattle.
- 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.
- 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.
- A headland; a promontory; as, Gay Head.
- A separate part, or topic, of a discourse; a theme to be expanded; a subdivision; as, the heads of a sermon.
- Culminating point or crisis; hence, strength; force; height.
- Power; armed force.
- A headdress; a covering of the head; as, a laced head; a head of hair.
- An ear of wheat, barley, or of one of the other small cereals.
- A dense cluster of flowers, as in clover, daisies, thistles; a capitulum.
- A dense, compact mass of leaves, as in a cabbage or a lettuce plant.
- The antlers of a deer.
- A rounded mass of foam which rises on a pot of beer or other effervescing liquor.
- Tiles laid at the eaves of a house.
3 . Head [ v. i.]
- To originate; to spring; to have its source, as a river.
- To go or point in a certain direction; to tend; as, how does the ship head?
- To form a head; as, this kind of cabbage heads early.
4 . Head [ v. t.]
- 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.
- To form a head to; to fit or furnish with a head; as, to head a nail.
- To behead; to decapitate.
- To cut off the top of; to lop off; as, to head trees.
- 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.
- To set on the head; as, to head a cask.

Meaning of 'head' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . head [ n]
Meaning (1):
- a single domestic animal
Example in sentence:
  • 200 head of cattle
Meaning (2):
- a dense cluster of flowers or foliage
Example in sentence:
  • a head of cauliflower;
  • a head of lettuce
Meaning (3):
- the pressure exerted by a fluid
Example in sentence:
  • a head of steam
Meaning (4):
- a projection out from one end
Example in sentence:
  • a pinhead is the head of a pin;
  • the head of the nail
Meaning (5):
- a difficult juncture
Example in sentence:
  • a pretty pass;
  • matters came to a head yesterday
Meaning (6):
- (usually plural) the obverse side of a coin that usually bears the representation of a person's head
Example in sentence:
  • call heads or tails!
Meaning (7):
- the length or height based on the size of a human or animal head
Example in sentence:
  • he is two heads taller than his little sister;
  • his horse won by a head
Meaning (8):
- the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
Example in sentence:
  • he stuck his head out the window
Meaning (9):
- the part in the front or nearest the viewer
Example in sentence:
  • he was at the head of the column;
  • he was in the forefront
Meaning (10):
- that which is responsible for one's thoughts, feelings, and conscious brain functions; the seat of the faculty of reason
Example in sentence:
  • his mind wandered;
  • I couldn't get his words out of my head
Meaning (11):
- the educator who has executive authority for a school
Example in sentence:
  • she sent unruly pupils to see the principal
Meaning (12):
- the foam or froth that accumulates at the top when you pour an effervescent liquid into a container
Example in sentence:
  • the beer had a large head of foam
Meaning (13):
- a rounded compact mass
Example in sentence:
  • the head of a comet
Meaning (14):
- the front of a military formation or procession
Example in sentence:
  • the head of the column advanced boldly;
  • they were at the head of the attack
Meaning (15):
- the striking part of a tool
Example in sentence:
  • the head of the hammer
Meaning (16):
- the rounded end of a bone that fits into a rounded cavity in another bone to form a joint
Example in sentence:
  • the head of the humerus
Meaning (17):
- the top of something
Example in sentence:
  • the head of the list;
  • the head of the page;
  • the head of the stairs
Meaning (18):
- a person who is in charge
Example in sentence:
  • the head of the whole operation
Meaning (19):
- a line of text serving to indicate what the passage below it is about
Example in sentence:
  • the heading seemed to have little to do with the text
Meaning (20):
- a user of (usually soft) drugs
Example in sentence:
  • the office was full of secret heads
Meaning (21):
- a V-shaped mark at one end of an arrow pointer
Example in sentence:
  • the point of the arrow was due north
Meaning (22):
- the subject matter at issue
Example in sentence:
  • the question of disease merits serious discussion;
  • under the head of minor Roman poets
Meaning (23):
- forward movement
Example in sentence:
  • the ship made little headway against the gale
Meaning (24):
- oral stimulation of the genitals
Example in sentence:
  • they say he gives good head
Meaning (25):
- the source of water from which a stream arises
Example in sentence:
  • they tracked him back toward the head of the stream
Meaning (26):
- an individual person
Example in sentence:
  • tickets are $5 per head
27 . head [ v]
Meaning (27):
- remove the head of
Example in sentence:
  • head the fish
Meaning (28):
- be in the front of or on top of
Example in sentence:
  • The list was headed by the name of the president
Meaning (29):
- travel in front of; go in advance of others
Example in sentence:
  • The procession was headed by John
Meaning (30):
- form a head or come or grow to a head
Example in sentence:
  • The wheat headed early this year
Meaning (31):
- take its rise
Example in sentence:
  • These rivers head from a mountain range in the Himalayas
Meaning (32):
- be the first or leading member of (a group) and excel
Example in sentence:
  • This student heads the class
Meaning (33):
- to go or travel towards
Example in sentence:
  • We were headed for the mountains;
  • where is she heading
Meaning (34):
- be in charge of
Example in sentence:
  • Who is heading this project?