Head (disambiguation) - Definition

Some dictionaries define close to thirty meanings of the word head. However, a majority of usages are associated with the connotation of forward, top, essential, control, etc., which are derived from attributes of an animal head (or brain).

• For anatomical meanings see;

• In anatomy, the head of an animal is the anterior part that bears the mouth, the brain and various sensory organs (e.g. organs of sight, hearing, smell and taste).
• By extension, the word head can refer to the top of an object or to a protruberance near the top (head of a nail).
• The heads side of a coin (as opposed to the tails side) is the side with a person's head on it. See also coin flipping.
• In botany, a head is a type of inflorescence, previously known as a composite flower — a structure composed of numerous individual flowers.

• For social and linguistic meanings see;

• In society, head is often a part of a title of office, meaning "the highest". A "head of department" is thus the person with the highest standing in said department.
• Head is a surreally comic movie starring The Monkees.
• In linguistics, the head is the main part of a phrase or compound.
• In slang referring to human sexuality, head or more specifically "giving..." or "getting head", refers to the act of oral sex -- fellatio or cunnilingus. The term can be applied to the act in any gender combination. It may originate from the idea of the "active" partner using (part of) their head for the benefit especially of the other, though the head, or glans of the male penis may have influenced the usage to some extent.
• In addition, "Head" is the nickname of Korn guitarist Brian Welch.

• For technology and science see;

• In fluid dynamics, hydraulic head refers to the constant right hand side in the incompressible steady version of Bernoulli's equation.
• In internal combustion engines, the cylinder head refers to the part of an engine that is bolted to the engine block, over the pistons and cylinders.
• In the Unix operating system, the head command provides the first few lines of a file.

• For sailing see;

• The head of a sail is its uppermost corner or, in the case of four-cornered sails, sometimes its uppermost edge.
• The head sail is a jib, spinnaker or any other sail set forward of the foremost mast.
• The head is the nautical name both for a toilet or latrine of a marine vessel, and for the structure projecting from the bows of sailing ships which served that purpose for the seamen.