ALL meanings of head off
head off
H h - noun head off the foremost part or front end of anything or a forward projecting part: head of a procession. 1
- noun head off the part of a weapon, tool, etc., used for striking: the head of a hammer. 1
- noun head off a person or animal considered merely as one of a number, herd, or group: ten head of cattle; a dinner at $20 a head. 1
- noun head off a culminating point, usually of a critical nature; crisis or climax: to bring matters to a head. 1
- noun head off the hair covering the head: to wash one's head. 1
- noun head off froth or foam at the top of a liquid: the head on beer. 1
- noun head off Botany. any dense flower cluster or inflorescence. any other compact part of a plant, usually at the top of the stem, as that composed of leaves in the cabbage or lettuce, of leafstalks in the celery, or of flower buds in the cauliflower. 1
- noun head off the maturated part of an abscess, boil, etc. 1
- noun head off a projecting point of a coast, especially when high, as a cape, headland, or promontory. 1
- noun head off the obverse of a coin, as bearing a head or other principal figure (opposed to tail). 1
- noun head off one of the chief parts or points of a written or oral discourse; a main division of a subject, theme, or topic. 1
- noun head off something resembling a head in form or a representation of a head, as a piece of sculpture. 1
- noun head off the source of a river or stream. 1
- noun head off Slang. a habitual user of a drug, especially LSD or marijuana (often used in combination): feds versus the heads; an acid-head; a pothead. a fan or devotee (usually used in combination): a punk-rock head; a chili head. 1
- noun head off heads, Distilling. alcohol produced during the initial fermentation. Compare tail1 (def 6d). 1
- noun head off headline. 1
- noun head off a toilet or lavatory, especially on a boat or ship. 1
- noun head off Nautical. the forepart of a vessel; bow. the upper edge of a quadrilateral sail. the upper corner of a jib-headed sail. that part of the upper end of one spar of a mast that is overlapped by a spar above; a doubling at the upper end of a spar. that part of the upper end of a mast between the highest standing rigging and the truck. crown (def 29). 1
- noun head off Grammar. the member of an endocentric construction that belongs to the same form class and may play the same grammatical role as the construction itself. the member upon which another depends and to which it is subordinate. In former presidents, presidents is head and former is modifier. 1
- noun head off the stretched membrane covering the end of a drum or similar musical instrument. 1
- noun head off Mining. a level or road driven into solid coal for proving or working a mine. 1
- noun head off Machinery. any of various devices on machine tools for holding, moving, indexing, or changing tools or work, as the headstock or turret of a lathe. 1
- noun head off Railroads. railhead (def 3). 1
- noun head off (loosely) the pressure exerted by confined fluid: a head of steam. 1
- noun head off Also called pressure head. Hydraulics. the vertical distance between two points in a liquid, as water, or some other fluid. the pressure differential resulting from this separation, expressed in terms of the vertical distance between the points. the pressure of a fluid expressed in terms of the height of a column of liquid yielding an equivalent pressure. 1
- noun head off Also called magnetic head. Electronics. the part or parts of a tape recorder that record, play back, or erase magnetic signals on magnetic tape. Compare erasing head, playback head, recording head. 1
- noun head off Computers. read/write head. 1
- noun head off Photography. a mounting for a camera, as on a tripod. the part of an enlarger that contains the light source, negative carrier, lensboard, and lens. 1
- noun head off Slang: Vulgar. fellatio or cunnilingus. 1
- noun head off Archaic. power, strength, or force progressively gathered or gradually attained. 1
- noun head off heads up! Informal. be careful! watch out for danger! 1
- adjective head off first in rank or position; chief; leading; principal: a head official. 1
- adjective head off of, relating to, or for the head (often used in combination): head covering; headgear; headpiece. 1
- adjective head off situated at the top, front, or head of anything (often used in combination): headline; headboard. 1
- adjective head off moving or coming from a direction in front of the head or prow of a vessel: head sea; head tide; head current. 1
- adjective head off Slang. of or relating to drugs, drug paraphernalia, or drug users. 1
- verb with object head off to go at the head of or in front of; lead; precede: to head a list. 1
- verb with object head off to outdo or excel; take the lead in or over: to head a race; to head one's competitors in a field. 1
- phrasal verb head off If you head off a person, animal, or vehicle, you move to a place in front of them in order to capture them or make them change the direction they are moving in. 0
- phrasal verb head off If you head something off, especially something unpleasant, you take action before it is expected to happen in order to prevent it from happening. 0
- verb head off to intercept and force to change direction 0
- verb head off to prevent or forestall (something that is likely to happen) 0
- verb head off to depart or set out 0
- noun head off to get ahead of and cause to stop or turn away; intercept 0
- verb head off (Intransitive Verb) To begin moving away. 0
- verb head off (Transitive Verb) To intercept. 0
- verb head off (Transitive Verb) To avoid some usually negative consequence. 0