head

1 /hed/ noun TOP OF BODY

1 (C) the top part of your body which has your eyes, mouth, brain etc in it: My head aches. | He turned his head and looked at me. | severe head injuries

2 from head to foot/toe over your whole body: He was shaking from head to foot. | dressed in black from head to toe

3 a bad/sore head informal a pain in your head: I woke up with a bad head the next morning.

4 have a good/fine head of hair to have a lot of hair on your head

MIND

5 (C) your mind: My head was full of strange thoughts. | in/inside sb's head: All the details are in my head. | do sth in your head (=calculate something in your mind): I can do the figures in my head.

6 sth never entered sb's head used to say that you never thought of something: “Do you think she's crazy?” “The thought never entered my head!”

7 don't bother/trouble your head about it spoken used to tell someone not to worry about something

8 put sth out of your head spoken to stop worrying about something

9 can't get something out of your head to be unable to stop thinking about something

10 put your heads together informal to discuss a difficult problem together: We'll gave to put our heads together and see if we can come up with some ideas.

11 have your head in the clouds to spend too much time thinking about things that you would like to do

UNDERSTAND

12 get your head round BrE informal to understand something difficult

13 can't make head nor tail of to be completely unable to understand something: I can't make head nor tail of this letter - does it mean anything to you?

14 go over your head to be too difficult for you to understand: The discussions went completely over my head.

15 get sth into your head informal to understand and realize something: I wish he'd get it into his head that I don't want to go out. | get sth into sb's head (=make someone understand and realize something)

TOP PERSON

16 (C) the leader or person in charge of a group or organization

(+ of): Eileen is head of the family now. | the former head of the FBI, J Edgar Hoover

17 head waiter/chef/gardener etc the most senior waiter etc

18 OF A SCHOOL (C) BrE informal the teacher who is in charge of a school: head teacher | the head: We'll have to ask the head for permission.

TOP/FRONT/MOST IMPORTANT PART

19 the head of the top or front of something, or the most important part of it: at the head of: Write your name clearly at the head of each page. | the head of the table (=the part where the most important people sit): Frank sat proudly at the head of the table.

20 (singular) the large or wide end of a long thin object such as a tool

(+ of): the head of a hammer

21 PLANT (C) the top of a plant where its leaves and flowers grow

CALM

22 keep your head to remain calm in a difficult or dangerous situation: a leader with a steady nerve and the ability to keep her head in a crisis

23 lose your head to become too anxious to think or behave calmly: When the engine caught fire, I just lost my head.

24 a clear/cool head the ability to think clearly or calmly in a difficult or dangerous situation: You need to approach this kind of emergency with a cool head.

CRAZY

25 be out of your head/off your head BrE spoken to be crazy

26 not be right in the head spoken to be mentally ill or crazy

27 need your head examined spoken to be crazy: If you ask me, anyone who believes in UFO's needs their head examined!

INTELLIGENT/SENSIBLE

28 have your head screwed on (straight) informal to be sensible

29 have a good head on your shoulders to be sensible or intelligent

30 use your head to think about something sensibly

TOO PROUD

31 have a bighead also have a swollen head BrE informal to think you are much better, more important, more skilful etc than you are

32 go to sb's head informal if success goes to someone's head, it makes them feel more important than they really are

ALCOHOL/DRUGS

33 go to sb's head to make someone quickly feel slightly drunk: The wine went straight to my head.

34 be out of your head informal to not know what you are doing because you have taken illegal drugs or drunk too much alcohol

FOR EACH PERSON

35 a head/per head for each person: $5/-10 etc a head: The meal worked out at $50 a head.

OTHER MEANINGS

36 coin heads the side of a coin which has the king's or queen's head on it

—opposite tails tail 1 (5(a))

37 keep your head above water to only just manage to continue to live on your income or keep your business working in spite of money problems

38 keep/get your head down to work steadily and quietly: He promised he would get his head down and work for his exams.

39 laugh/shout/scream your head off informal to laugh, shout etc very loudly

40 be banging your head against a brick wall to keep trying to do something which seems impossible: I feel as if I'm banging my head against a brick wall.

41 take it into your head to do sth to suddenly decide to do something that does not seem sensible: They suddenly took it into their heads to go off without telling anyone.

42 turn/stand sth on its head to consider a statement or idea in the opposite way from the way in which it was intended

43 give sb their head to give someone the freedom to do what they want to do

44 go head to head with AmE to deal with someone in a very direct and determined way

45 come/bring sth to a head if a problem or difficult situation comes to a head, or if something brings it to a head, it suddenly becomes very bad: The crisis came to a head when the bank refused to accept our cheques.

46 go over sb's head to ask a more important person than the one you would normally ask: My boss was angry because I went over his head to the department manager.

47 be over your head in debt AmE to owe so much money that there is no possibility of paying it all back

48 have a head for figures/facts/business etc to be good at doing calculations, remembering facts etc

49 have no head for heights to be unable to look down from high places without feeling nervous

50 head and shoulders above the rest/others much better at something than everyone else

51 head over heels in love loving someone very much: Sam was obviously head over heels in love with his new bride.

52 heads will roll spoken used to say that some people will be punished severely for something that has happened

53 on your own head be it spoken used to tell someone that they will be blamed if the thing they are planning to do has bad results

54 heads up! AmE spoken used to warn people that something is falling from above

55 do your head in BrE spoken to make you feel confused and annoyed: The way he keeps changing his mind about things really does my head in.

56 beer (C) the layer of small white bubbles on the top of a glass of beer

57 RECORDING (C) the part of a tape recorder that records sound

58 head of cattle/sheep etc a particular number of cows, sheep etc: a small farm with 20 head of cattle

59 head of water/steam pressure that is made when water or steam is kept in an enclosed space

60 LAND a high area of land that sticks into the sea; headland: Beachy Head

61 RIVER/STREAM the beginning of a river or stream

62 INFECTION (C) the white centre of a swollen spot on your skin

—see also: bite sb's head off bite 1 (9), bury your head in the sand bury (11), hold your head high/hold up your head hold 1 (38), nod your head nod 1 (1), off the top of your head top 1 (16), shake your head shake 1 (4), turn sb's head turn 1 (21), standing on your head stand 1 (38) 2 verb

1 GO TOWARDS (I, T) to go or make something go in a particular direction

(+ for/towards/across etc): The ship was heading for Cuba. | It's about time we were heading home. | head north/south etc: We headed south towards the capital. | be headed (for) especially AmE: Where are you guys headed?

2 BE IN CHARGE also head up (T) to be in charge of a government, organization, or group of people: a delegation headed by former President Jimmy Carter

3 be heading for also be headed for especially AmE if you are heading for a situation, it is likely to happen to you: They're heading for disaster.

4 BE AT THE TOP (T)

a) to be at the top of a list or group of people or things: The movie heads the list of Oscar nominations.

b) be headed if a page is headed with a particular word or sentence, it has it on the top: The page was headed `Expenses'.

5 BE AT THE FRONT to be at the front of a line of people: a procession headed by the Reverend Martin Luther King

6 FOOTBALL (T) to hit the ball with your head, especially in football

head off phrasal verb

1 (transitive head something off) to prevent something from happening: They've headed off several crises since they took charge.

2 (transitive head something off) to stop someone moving in a particular direction by moving in front of them: Soldiers headed them off at the border.

3 (I) to leave to go to another place: I'm heading off now.