head \head\ he^d, n. oe. hed, heved, heaved, as. he'afod;
   akin to d. hoofd, ohg. houbit, g. haupt, icel. h"ofueth,
   sw. hufvud, dan. hoved, goth. haubithorn. the word does not
   correspond regularly to l. caput head cf. e. chief,
   cadet, capital, and its origin is unknown.
   1. 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.
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   2. 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.
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   3. 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.
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   4. 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. "their princes
      and heads." --robynson more's utopia.
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            the heads of the chief sects of philosophy.
                                                  --tillotson.
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            your head i him appoint.              --milton.
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   5. 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.
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            an army of fourscore thousand troops, with the duke
            of marlborough at the head of them.   --addison.
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   6. each one among many; an individual; -- often used in a
      plural sense; as, a thousand head of cattle.
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            it there be six millions of people, there are about
            four acres for every head.            --graunt.
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   7. 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.
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            men who had lost both head and heart. --macaulay.
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   8. 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.
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   9. a headland; a promontory; as, gay head. --shak.
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   10. a separate part, or topic, of a discourse; a theme to be
       expanded; a subdivision; as, the heads of a sermon.
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   11. culminating point or crisis; hence, strength; force;
       height.
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             ere foul sin, gathering head, shall break into
             corruption.                          --shak.
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             the indisposition which has long hung upon me, is
             at last grown to such a head, that it must quickly
             make an end of me or of itself.      --addison.
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   12. power; armed force.
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             my lord, my lord, the french have gathered head.
                                                  --shak.
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   13. a headdress; a covering of the head; as, a laced head; a
       head of hair. --swift.
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   14. an ear of wheat, barley, or of one of the other small
       cereals.
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   15. bot.
       a a dense cluster of flowers, as in clover, daisies,
           thistles; a capitulum.
       b a dense, compact mass of leaves, as in a cabbage or a
           lettuce plant.
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   16. the antlers of a deer.
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   17. a rounded mass of foam which rises on a pot of beer or
       other effervescing liquor. --mortimer.
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   18. pl. tiles laid at the eaves of a house. --knight.
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   note: head is often used adjectively or in self-explaining
         combinations; as, head gear or headgear, head rest. cf.
         head, a.
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   a buck of the first head, a male fallow deer in its fifth
      year, when it attains its complete set of antlers. --shak.

   by the head. naut. see under by.

   elevator head, feed head, etc. see under elevator,
      feed, etc.

   from head to foot, through the whole length of a man;
      completely; throughout. "arm me, audacity, from head to
      foot." --shak.

   head and ears, with the whole person; deeply; completely;
      as, he was head and ears in debt or in trouble. colloq.
      

   head fast. naut. see 5th fast.

   head kidney anat., the most anterior of the three pairs
      of embryonic renal organs developed in most vertebrates;
      the pronephros.

   head money, a capitation tax; a poll tax. --milton.

   head pence, a poll tax. obs.

   head sea, a sea that meets the head of a vessel or rolls
      against her course.

   head and shoulders.
       a by force; violently; as, to drag one, head and
           shoulders. "they bring in every figure of speech,
           head and shoulders." --felton.
       b by the height of the head and shoulders; hence, by a
           great degree or space; by far; much; as, he is head
           and shoulders above them.

   heads or tails or head or tail, this side or that side;
      this thing or that; -- a phrase used in throwing a coin to
      decide a choice, question, or stake, head being the side
      of the coin bearing the effigy or principal figure or, in
      case there is no head or face on either side, that side
      which has the date on it, and tail the other side.

   neither head nor tail, neither beginning nor end; neither
      this thing nor that; nothing distinct or definite; -- a
      phrase used in speaking of what is indefinite or confused;
      as, they made neither head nor tail of the matter.
      colloq.

   head wind, a wind that blows in a direction opposite the
      vessel's course.

   off the top of my head, from quick recollection, or as an
      approximation; without research or calculation; -- a
      phrase used when giving quick and approximate answers to
      questions, to indicate that a response is not necessarily
      accurate.

   out of one's own head, according to one's own idea; without
      advice or co"operation of another.

   over the head of, beyond the comprehension of. --m. arnold.

   to go over the head of a person, to appeal to a person
      superior to a person in line of command.

   to be out of one's head, to be temporarily insane.

   to come or draw to a head. see under come, draw.

   to give one the head, or to give head, to let go, or to
      give up, control; to free from restraint; to give license.
      "he gave his able horse the head." --shak. "he has so long
      given his unruly passions their head." --south.

   to his head, before his face. "an uncivil answer from a son
      to a father, from an obliged person to a benefactor, is a
      greater indecency than if an enemy should storm his house
      or revile him to his head." --jer. taylor.

   to lay heads together, to consult; to conspire.

   to lose one's head, to lose presence of mind.

   to make head, or to make head against, to resist with
      success; to advance.

   to show one's head, to appear. --shak.

   to turn head, to turn the face or front. "the ravishers
      turn head, the fight renews." --dryden.
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see also:
chief cadet capital head a buck of the first head by the head 
by elevator head feed head elevator feed 
from head to foot head and ears head fast fast head kidney 
head money head pence head sea head and shoulders heads or tails 
head or tail neither head nor tail head wind off the top of my head out of one's own head 
over the head of to go over the head of a person to be out of one's head to come or draw to a head come 
draw to give one the head to give head to his head to lay heads together 
to lose one's head to make head to make head against to show one's head to turn head