head - English dictionary definition

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1. Head  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. Head  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. Head  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. 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.
5. Head  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.
6. Head  Each one among many; an individual; -- often used in a plural sense; as, a thousand head of cattle.
7. Head  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.
8. Head  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. Head  A headland; a promontory; as, Gay Head.
10. Head  A separate part, or topic, of a discourse; a theme to be expanded; a subdivision; as, the heads of a sermon.