Head | Mean of head in English Dictionary

/ˈhɛd/

• Noun
• the part of the body containing the brain, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth
1. She patted the dog on the head.
2. He nodded his head in agreement.
3. The ceiling's low—watch your head!
4. head injuries
5. They were covered from head to foot/toe in mud. [=they were completely covered in mud]
6. He has a full head of hair. [=he has a full amount of hair on his head]
• a person's mental ability
1. You shouldn't let your heart rule your head. [=you should be guided by reason and not by your emotions]
2. She did some quick calculations in her head. [=without writing anything; mentally]
3. I keep hearing that song in my head. = That song keeps running through my head. = I can't get that song out of my head.
4. It never even entered my head to run for office. [=I never thought of running for office]
5. The problem is all in his head. [=the problem is not real; he's just imagining it]
6. Don't go putting ideas in/into his head. [=don't cause him to have ideas or suspicions that he would not have himself]
7. You should put that idea out of your head. [=you should stop thinking about that idea]
8. She always says the first thing that comes/pops into her head. [=the first thing that she thinks of]
9. I'm sure we can solve this problem if we just use our heads. [=think carefully]
10. That guy should have his head examined. = That guy is not right in the head. [=that guy is crazy]
11. You need a cool/calm head [=an ability to remain calm] to deal with someone like him.
12. a clear head [=an ability to think clearly]
13. You don't have to worry about her—she's got a good head on her shoulders.
14. He's taken it into his head to try skydiving.
15. I somehow got it into my head to run for public office.
16. She's somehow gotten it into her head that I don't like her. [=she believes that I don't like her although I do like her]
• a person who has a specified mental or emotional quality
1. A fight was avoided when cooler heads prevailed. [=when calmer or less angry people were able to convince others not to fight]

• a distance equal to the length of a head
1. The horse won the race by a head.
2. I'm a head taller than you.
• the front side of a coin
1. the head of a penny
2. I call heads.
3. Is it heads or tails? [=did the coin land with heads or tails facing up?]
4. It landed heads up.
• individual animals
1. 100 head of cattle
• an end of something that is like a head in shape or position
1. She placed the pillows at the head of the bed.
2. We arrived early so that we'd be at the head [=front] of the line.
3. The chairman sat at the head of the table.
4. the head [=top] of a nail/pin/screw
• the part of an object that hits or touches something else
1. a grinding head
2. the hammer's head
3. the head of a spear
4. the head of a golf club
• the position of being a leader
1. She's at the head of her class. [=she is the best student in her class]
• a person who leads or directs a group or organization
1. Have you met the new department head?
2. She is the head of our sales division.
3. heads of families/households
4. heads of state [=leaders of countries]
5. the restaurant's head cook
6. the team's head coach
• a tight mass of leaves or flowers on a plant
1. The flower heads on the plant are very large.
2. a head of cabbage/lettuce
3. a head of garlic
• the place where a stream or river begins
1. the head of the Nile
• pressure caused by the water or steam in a machine
1. The project started slowly, but now we have a full head of steam.
• the bubbles that form on the top of some liquids (such as beer)
1. the foamy head on a beer
• the point at which a situation becomes very serious or when action is required
1. Things came to a head when the workers threatened to go on strike.
2. These new revelations brought the scandal to a head.
• a small, inflamed area on the skin with a spot in the middle
• an overly high opinion of yourself
1. All those compliments have given him a big head. [=have made him very conceited]
• for each person
1. The price is $20 a head.
• to cause someone to learn and remember something
1. She's finally gotten it through their heads that she doesn't eat meat.
• to accept or understand (something)
1. He can't seem to get it through his head that I'm not interested in working with him.
• to understand (something)
1. She couldn't get her head round why he had to leave.
• to discuss something with a person who is higher in rank than someone else
1. He went over his supervisor's head to complain about the policy to the company's president. [=he complained about the policy to the company's president rather than his supervisor]
• to make you feel drunk
1. I just had one glass of wine, but it went straight to my head.
• to make you believe that you are better than other people
1. He has never let his fame go to his head.
• to have an ability to understand or deal with (something)
1. She's always had a (good) head for business.
2. (Brit) He has a head for heights. [=he is not afraid of heights; being up high does not bother him]
• to think or act in a smart and sensible way
1. She's young, but it's clear that she has her head screwed on right.
2. You think that's a good idea? You need to get your head screwed on straight.
• very deeply in love
1. We were head over heels (in love).
2. He fell head over heels for some girl he met at school.
3. (US) He went head over heels for her.
• to be proud
1. Even though they lost the game, they can still hold up their heads because they tried their best.
• to remain calm
1. She has shown that she can keep her head in a crisis.
• to avoid financial failure while having money problems
1. We have so much debt that we're barely able to keep our heads above water.
• to behave in a quiet way that does not attract attention
1. a politician who is keeping his head down and trying to avoid controversy
• to become very upset or angry
1. He lost his head and said some things he regrets.
• to be unable to understand (something)
1. I couldn't make heads or tails of her reaction.
2. His handwriting was so bad that we couldn't make heads or tails out of it.
• crazy or foolish
1. He's not just eccentric—he's completely off his head!
2. He's gone off his head over some girl.
• with the upper and lower parts of your body reversed in position
1. Can you stand on your head?
• in or into great disorder
1. News of the discovery turned the scientific world on its head.
• unable to act or think in a reasonable and controlled way because of drunkenness or strong emotion
1. He was (drunk) out of his head. [=he was extremely drunk]
2. Her parents were out of their heads with worry [=were extremely worried and upset] when she didn't come home on time.
• beyond your understanding or ability
1. The technical details were over my head. [=too complicated for me to understand]
2. That joke went right over my head. [=I did not get that joke]
3. We realized after we started the business that we were (in) over our heads. [=we were trying to do something that was too difficult]
• to think of a solution to a problem with another person
1. I'm sure we can solve this problem if we just put our heads together.
• to be confused about something and unable to understand the reason for it
1. His odd behavior left us all scratching our heads.
• to scream/shout/yell/laugh (etc.) very loudly or for a long time
1. She was screaming her head off.
2. You can shout your head off at him, but he still won't listen.
3. If they saw me dressed like this, they'd laugh their heads off.
• to attract attention or notice
1. The car's sleek design is bound to turn heads.
• Verb
• to be the leader of (something)
1. She heads the committee.
2. The group was headed by the church pastor.
3. He was accused of heading the revolt.
4. The research committee was headed up by several leading scientists.
• to be first on (a list)
1. He heads [=tops] the list of candidates for the job.
• to go in a specified direction or toward a specified place
1. She turned around and headed (for) home.
2. I hopped in the car and headed down the street.
3. After lunch, we headed back to the office.
4. She headed out early this morning.
5. The birds have already started heading south for the winter.
6. Where are you heading? = Where are you headed? [=where are you going?]
7. The ship was heading/headed out to sea.
8. We were on a plane headed for Hawaii.
9. The economy may be heading into a recession.
10. If you keep acting like this, you'll be heading/headed for trouble!
• to hit (the ball) with your head
1. The forward headed the ball into the goal.
• to go to another place
1. I'll see you later—I'm heading off.
2. He headed off to work.
• to stop (someone) from moving forward
1. We can head them off at the pass.
• to prevent (something) from happening
1. They tried to head off the crisis by raising interest rates.