VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

head

noun·Everyday

Last updated

UK/hed/
US/hɛd/

Meanings

  1. nouncountable

    The part of the body that sits on top of the neck and contains the brain, eyes and mouth.

    Grammar: Countable: a head, two heads. In some uses singular for a number of people: five dollars a head.

    Patterns

    • on someone's head
    • shake your head

    She bumped her head on the low beam.

    He nodded his head in agreement.

    The dog rested its head on my knee.

  2. nouncountable

    The person in charge of a group, school or organization.

    Grammar: Often followed by of: the head of the department.

    Patterns

    • the head of something
    • head of state

    The head of the company announced the merger.

    She is head of the science department.

    The heads of government met in Paris.

  3. nounsingular

    The top or front part of something, such as a page, a table or a river.

    Grammar: Usually singular with of: the head of the table.

    Patterns

    • the head of something
    • at the head of something

    Write your name at the head of the page.

    He sat at the head of the table.

    The head of the river is high in the mountains.

  4. nounsingularfigurative

    The mind or mental ability, used in common idioms such as use your head.

    Grammar: Usually singular, in idioms: keep a cool head.

    Patterns

    • keep a cool head
    • use your head

    Keep a cool head and think before you answer.

    She has a good head for numbers.

    He couldn't get the song out of his head.

Word forms

pluralheads

Common combinations

shake one's head
She shook her head and refused.
head start
An early start gave us a head start.
use your head
Use your head before signing.
head of state
The president is the head of state.
keep a cool head
He kept a cool head during the storm.

Synonyms and how they differ

skull
Skull means the bony part of the head, so it is narrower than head.
leader
Leader is a general word for someone who guides a group, while head suggests an official position.
chief
Chief is informal in many uses and suggests the top person in a group, as in chief of police.
top
Top means the highest part of something, while head is used for the leading or front end.

Opposites

foottailbottom

Word family

heading noun
a title at the top of a page
header noun
a jump to hit a ball with the head, or text at the top of a page
headache noun
a pain in the head
headline noun
the title of a news story
headstrong adjective
determined to do things your own way

Commonly confused: head or hid? head or heed?

head vs hid

Hid is the past tense of hide and has the vowel /ɪ/, while head has the vowel /e/.

head vs heed

Heed means pay attention to and sounds like /hiːd/, not /hed/.

Practice

Which word rhymes with head?

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “head”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words