HEAD

I. noun Etymology: Middle English hed, from Old English hēafod; akin to Old High German houbit ~, Latin caput Date: before 12th century the upper or anterior division of the animal body that contains the brain, the chief sense organs, and the mouth, 2. the seat of the intellect ; mind , a person with respect to mental qualities , natural aptitude or talent , mental or emotional control ; poise , ~ache , the obverse of a coin, 4. person , individual , one of a number (as of domestic animals), 5. the end that is upper or higher or opposite the foot , the source of a stream, either end of something (as a drum) whose two ends need not be distinguished, director , leader : as, ~master , one in charge of a division or department in an office or institution , 7. capitulum 2, the foliaged part of a plant especially when consisting of a compact mass of leaves or close fructification , 8. the leading element of a military column or a procession, ~way , 9. the uppermost extremity or projecting part of an object ; top , the striking part of a weapon, tool, or implement, the rounded proximal end of a long bone (as the humerus), the end of a muscle nearest the origin, the oval part of a printed musical note, 10. a body of water kept in reserve at a height, a mass of water in motion, 11. the difference in elevation between two points in a body of fluid, the resulting pressure of the fluid at the lower point expressible as this height, 12. the bow and adjacent parts of a ship, a ship's toilet, the approximate length of the ~ of a horse , the place of leadership, honor, or command , 15. a. a word or series of words often in larger letters placed at the beginning of a passage or at the top of a page in order to introduce or categorize, a separate part or topic, a portion of a page or sheet that is above the first line of printing, the foam or scum that rises on a fermenting or effervescing liquid (as beer), 17. the part of a boil, pimple, or abscess at which it is likely to break, culminating point of action ; crisis , 18. a part or attachment of a machine or machine tool containing a device (as a cutter or drill), an electromagnet used as a transducer in magnetic recording for recording on, reading, or erasing a magnetic medium (as tape or a disk), an immediate constituent of a construction that can have the same grammatical function as the whole (as man in “an old man”, “a very old man”, or “the man in the street”), 20. one who uses a drug, a devoted enthusiast ; aficionado , fellatio , cunnilingus , II. adjective Date: before 12th century of, relating to, or intended for the ~, principal , chief , situated at the ~, coming from in front , III. verb Date: 14th century transitive verb be~ , 2. to put a ~ on ; fit a ~ to , to form the ~ or top of , to act as leader or ~ to , 4. to get in front of so as to hinder, stop, or turn back, to take a lead over (as a racehorse) ; surpass , to pass (a stream) by going round above the source, 5. to put something at the ~ of (as a list), to stand as the first or leading member of , to set the course of , to drive (as a soccer ball) with the ~, intransitive verb to form a ~ , to point or proceed in a certain direction , to have a source ; originate