head-hunting

head-hunt·ing

H h

Definitions of head-hunting word

noun head-hunting a headhunting expedition: The men left the village to go on a headhunt. 1
verb without object head-hunting to engage in headhunting. 1
noun head-hunting the practice among certain peoples of removing the heads of slain enemies and preserving them as trophies 0
noun head-hunting the recruitment, esp through an agency, of executives from one company to another, often rival, company 0
noun head-hunting the destruction or neutralization of political opponents 0

before 1850

One of the 32% newest English words

First recorded in 1850-55; head + hunting

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 84% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".