Definition

• n. - 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.
• n. - 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.
• n. - 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.
• n. - 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.
• n. - 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.
• n. - Each one among many; an individual; -- often used in a plural sense; as, a thousand head of cattle.