(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
Note: 'Head' is used in a large number of expressions which are explained under other words in the dictionary. For example, the expression ‘off the top of your ~’ is explained at ‘top’.
1.
Your ~ is the top part of your body, which has your eyes, mouth, and brain in it.
She turned her ~ away from him...
N-COUNT
2.
You can use ~ to refer to your mind and your mental abilities.
...an exceptional analyst who could do complex maths in his ~.
N-COUNT
3.
The ~ of a line of people or vehicles is the front of it, or the first person or vehicle in the line.
...the ~ of the queue...
N-SING: with supp
4.
If someone or something ~s a line or procession, they are at the front of it.
The parson, ~ing the procession, had just turned right towards the churchyard.
VERB: V n
5.
If something ~s a list or group, it is at the top of it.
Running a business ~s the list of ambitions among the 1,000 people interviewed by Good Housekeeping magazine.
VERB: V n
6.
The ~ of something is the highest or top part of it.
...the ~ of the stairs...
Every day a different name was placed at the ~ of the chart.
= top
N-SING: usu N of n
7.
The ~ of something long and thin is the end which is wider than or a different shape from the rest, and which is often considered to be the most important part.
Keep the ~ of the club the same height throughout the swing.
N-COUNT: usu with supp
8.
The ~ of a school is the teacher who is in charge. (mainly BRIT)
= ~ teacher
N-COUNT
9.
The ~ of a company or organization is the person in charge of it and in charge of the people in it.
Heads of government from more than 100 countries gather in Geneva tomorrow.
...the ~ waiter.
N-COUNT: with supp
10.
If you ~ a department, company, or organization, you are the person in charge of it.
...Michael Williams, who ~s the department’s Office of Civil Rights.
...the ruling Socialist Party, ~ed by Dr Franz Vranitzky.
VERB: V n, V-ed
11.
The ~ on a glass of beer is the layer of small bubbles that form on the top of the beer.
N-COUNT: usu sing
12.
If you have a bad ~, you have a ~ache. (BRIT INFORMAL)
I had a terrible ~ and was extraordinarily drunk.
N-COUNT: usu sing, with supp
13.
If you toss a coin and it comes down ~s, you can see the side of the coin which has a picture of a ~ on it.
‘We might toss up for it,’ suggested Ted. ‘If it’s ~s, then we’ll talk.’...
Heads or tails?
ADV: be ADV, ADV after v
14.
If you are ~ing for a particular place, you are going towards that place. In American English, you can also say that you are ~ed for a particular place.
He ~ed for the bus stop...
It is not clear how many of them will be ~ing back to Saudi Arabia tomorrow...
She and her child boarded a plane ~ed to where her family lived...
VERB: V for n, V adv/prep, V-ed
15.
If something or someone is ~ing for a particular result, the situation they are in is developing in a way that makes that result very likely. In American English, you can also say that something or someone is ~ed for a particular result.
The latest talks aimed at ending the civil war appear to be ~ing for deadlock...
The centuries-old ritual seems ~ed for extinction.
VERB: V for/towards n, V-ed
16.
If a piece of writing is ~ed a particular title, it has that title written at the beginning of it.
One chapter is ~ed, ‘Beating the Test’.
VERB: usu passive, be V-ed quote
17.
If you ~ a ball in football, you hit it with your ~ in order to make it go in a particular direction.
He ~ed the ball across the face of the goal.
VERB: V n prep/adv
18.
see also ~ing
19.
You use a ~ or per ~ after stating a cost or amount in order to indicate that that cost or amount is for each person in a particular group.
This simple chicken dish costs less than ?1 a ~...
PHRASE: amount PHR
20.
From ~ to foot means all over your body.
Colin had been put into a bath and been scrubbed from ~ to foot.
PHRASE: oft be V-ed PHR emphasis
21.
If you a have a ~ for something, you can deal with it easily. For example, if you have a ~ for figures, you can do arithmetic easily, and if you have a ~ for heights, you can climb to a great height without feeling afraid.
I don’t have a ~ for business.
PHRASE: have/with PHR, PHR n
22.
If you get a fact or idea into your ~, you suddenly realize or think that it is true and you usually do not change your opinion about it.
Once they get an idea into their ~s, they never give up.
PHRASE: V and N inflect
23.
If you say that someone has got something into their ~, you mean that they have finally understood or accepted it, and you are usually criticizing them because it has taken them a long time to do this.
Managers have at last got it into their ~s that they can no longer accept inefficient operations.
PHRASE: V and N inflect
24.
If alcoholic drink goes to your ~, it makes you feel drunk.
That wine was strong, it went to your ~.
PHRASE: V and N inflect
25.
If you say that something such as praise or success goes to someone’s ~, you are criticizing them because you think that it makes them too proud or confident.
Ford is definitely not a man to let a little success go to his ~.
PHRASE: V and N inflect disapproval
26.
If you are ~ over heels or ~ over heels in love, you are very much in love.
PHRASE: v PHR, v-link PHR
27.
If you keep your ~, you remain calm in a difficult situation. If you lose your ~, you panic or do not remain calm in a difficult situation.
She was able to keep her ~ and not panic...
She lost her ~ and started screaming at me.
PHRASE: V and N inflect
28.
If you knock something on the ~, you stop it. (BRIT INFORMAL)
When we stop enjoying ourselves we’ll knock it on the ~.
PHRASE: V inflects
29.
Phrases such as laugh your ~ off and scream your ~ off can be used to emphasize that someone is laughing or screaming a lot or very loudly.
He carried on telling a joke, laughing his ~ off.
PHRASE: N inflects emphasis
30.
If you say that someone is off their ~, you think that their ideas or behaviour are very strange, foolish, or dangerous. (mainly BRIT INFORMAL)
He’s gone completely off his ~.
PHRASE: N inflects, usu v-link PHR disapproval
31.
If you stand an idea or argument on its ~ or turn it on its ~, you think about it or treat it in a completely new and different way.
Their relationship turned the standard notion of marriage on its ~.
PHRASE: V inflects
32.
If something such as an idea, joke, or comment goes over someone’s ~, it is too difficult for them to understand.
I admit that a lot of the ideas went way over my ~.
PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v
33.
If someone does something over another person’s ~, they do it without asking them or discussing it with them, especially when they should do so because the other person is in a position of authority.
He was reprimanded for trying to go over the ~s of senior officers.
PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v
34.
If you say that something unpleasant or embarrassing rears its ugly ~ or raises its ugly ~, you mean that it occurs, often after not occurring for some time.
There was a problem which reared its ugly ~ about a week after she moved back in...
PHRASE: V inflects
35.
If you stand on your ~, you balance upside down with the top of your ~ and your hands on the ground.
PHRASE: V and N inflect
36.
If you say that you cannot make ~ nor tail of something or you cannot make ~ or tail of it, you are emphasizing that you cannot understand it at all. (INFORMAL)
I couldn’t make ~ nor tail of the damn film.
PHRASE: usu with brd-neg, V inflects, PHR n
37.
If somebody takes it into their ~ to do something, especially something strange or foolish, they suddenly decide to do it.
He suddenly took it into his ~ to go out to Australia to stay with his son.
PHRASE: V and N inflect, usu PHR to-inf
38.
If a problem or disagreement comes to a ~ or is brought to a ~, it becomes so bad that something must be done about it.
These problems came to a ~ in September when five of the station’s journalists were sacked.
PHRASE: V inflects
39.
If two or more people put their ~s together, they talk about a problem they have and try to solve it.
So everyone put their ~s together and eventually an amicable arrangement was reached.
PHRASE: V inflects
40.
If you keep your ~ above water, you just avoid getting into difficulties; used especially to talk about business.
We are keeping our ~ above water, but our cash flow position is not too good.
PHRASE: V inflects
41.
If you say that ~s will roll as a result of something bad that has happened, you mean that people will be punished for it, especially by losing their jobs.
The group’s problems have led to speculation that ~s will roll.
PHRASE: V inflects