headstone

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head·stone

(hĕd′stōn′)

1. A memorial stone set at the head of a grave.

2. also head stone Architecture See keystone.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

headstone

(ˈhɛdˌstəʊn)

1. a memorial stone at the head of a grave

2. (Architecture) architect another name for keystone

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

head•stone

(ˈhɛdˌstoʊn)

n.

a stone marker set at the head of a grave.

[1525–35]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	headstone - the central building block at the top of an arch or vault keystone, key arch - (architecture) a masonry construction (usually curved) for spanning an opening and supporting the weight above it building block - a block of material used in construction work coign, coigne, quoin - the keystone of an arch
	2.	headstone - a stone that is used to mark a grave gravestone, tombstone tomb, grave - a place for the burial of a corpse (especially beneath the ground and marked by a tombstone); "he put flowers on his mother's grave" monument, memorial - a structure erected to commemorate persons or events stone - building material consisting of a piece of rock hewn in a definite shape for a special purpose; "he wanted a special stone to mark the site"

headstone

noun gravestone, monument, tombstone, stone He placed two poppies at the base of the headstone.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

شاهِد الضَّريح

náhrobní kámen

gravsten

Grabstein

lápida

pierre tombale

legsteinn

lapide pietra tombale

mezar taşı

墓石

headstone

[ˈhedstəʊn] N (on grave) → lápida f (mortuoria)

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

headstone

[ˈhɛdstəʊn] n (on grave) → pierre f tombale

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

headstone

[ˈhɛdˌstəʊn] n (on grave) → lapide f, pietra tombale

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

head

(hed) noun

1. the top part of the human body, containing the eyes, mouth, brain etc; the same part of an animal's body. The stone hit him on the head; He scratched his head in amazement.

2. a person's mind. An idea came into my head last night.

3. the height or length of a head. The horse won by a head.

4. the chief or most important person (of an organization, country etc). Kings and presidents are heads of state; (also adjective) a head waiter; the head office.

5. anything that is like a head in shape or position. the head of a pin; The boy knocked the heads off the flowers.

6. the place where a river, lake etc begins. the head of the Nile.

7. the top, or the top part, of anything. Write your address at the head of the paper; the head of the table.

8. the front part. He walked at the head of the procession.

9. a particular ability or tolerance. He has no head for heights; She has a good head for figures.

10. a headmaster or headmistress. You'd better ask the Head.

11. (for) one person. This dinner costs $10 a head.

12. a headland. Beachy Head.

13. the foam on the top of a glass of beer etc.

verb

1. to go at the front of or at the top of (something). The procession was headed by the band; Whose name headed the list?

2. to be in charge of; to be the leader of. He heads a team of scientists investigating cancer.

3. (often with for) to (cause to) move in a certain direction. The explorers headed south; The boys headed for home; You're heading for disaster!

4. to put or write something at the beginning of. His report was headed `Ways of Preventing Industrial Accidents'.

5. (in football) to hit the ball with the head. He headed the ball into the goal.

-headed

having (a certain number or type of) head(s). a two-headed monster; a bald-headed man.

ˈheader noun

1. a fall or dive forwards. He slipped and took a header into the mud.

2. (in football) the act of hitting the ball with the head. He scored with a great header.

ˈheading noun

what is written at the top of a page etc. The teacher said that essays must have a proper heading.

heads noun, adverb

(on) the side of a coin with the head of a king, president etc on it. He tossed the penny and it came down heads.

ˈheadache noun

1. a pain in the head. Bright lights give me a headache.

2. something worrying. Lack of money is a real headache.

ˈheadband noun

a strip of material worn round the head to keep one's hair off one's face.

ˈhead-dress noun

something, usually ornamental, which is worn on, and covers, the head. The tribesmen were wearing head-dresses of fur and feathers.

ˌheadˈfirst adverb

with one's head in front or bent forward. He fell headfirst into a pool of water.

ˈheadgear noun

anything that is worn on the head. Hats, caps and helmets are headgear.

ˈheadlamp noun

a headlight.

ˈheadland noun

a point of land which sticks out into the sea.

ˈheadlight noun

a powerful light at or on the front of a car, lorry, train, ship, aeroplane etc. As it was getting dark, the driver switched on his headlights.

ˈheadline noun

the words written in large letters at the top of newspaper articles. I never read a paper in detail – I just glance at the headlines.

ˈheadlines noun plural

a brief statement of the most important items of news, on television or radio. the news headlines.

ˈheadlong adjective, adverb

1. moving forwards or downwards, with one's head in front. a headlong dive into the pool of water; He fell headlong into a pool of water.

2. (done) without thought or delay, often foolishly. a headlong rush; He rushes headlong into disaster.

head louse

a type of louse that infests the human head.

headˈmaster – feminine headˈmistress – noun

the person in charge of a school; the principal.

ˌhead-ˈon adverb, adjective

(usually of cars etc) with the front of one car etc hitting the front of another car etc. a head-on collision; The two cars crashed head-on.

ˈheadphones noun plural

(also ˈearphones) a pair of electronic instruments held over a person's ears, by a metal band over the head, which are connected to a radio. a set of headphones.

ˌheadˈquarters noun singular or plural

(often abbreviated to HQ (eitʃˈkjuː) noun) the place from which the chief officers or leaders of an organization (especially an army) direct and control the activities of that organization. During the election, his house was used as the campaign headquarters.

ˈheadrest noun

a sort of small cushion which supports a person's head, eg as fitted to a dentist's chair, a car seat.

ˈheadscarf, ˈheadsquare nouns

a usually square scarf worn by women over or round the head.

ˈheadstone noun

a stone put at a grave, usually with the name of the dead person on it, the date of his birth and death etc.

ˈheadstrong adjective

(of people) difficult to persuade or control; always doing or wanting to do what they themselves want. a headstrong, obstinate child.

ˈheadwind noun

a wind which is blowing towards one.

above someone's head

too difficult (for someone) to understand. His lecture was well above their heads.

go to someone's head

1. (of alcohol) to make someone slightly drunk. Champagne always goes to my head.

2. (of praise, success etc) to make someone arrogant, foolish etc. Don't let success go to your head.

head off

1. to make (a person, animal etc) change direction. One group of the soldiers rode across the valley to head the bandits off.

2. to go in some direction. He headed off towards the river.

head over heels

1. completely. He fell head over heels in love.

2. turning over completely; headfirst. He fell head over heels into a pond.

heads or tails?

used when tossing a coin, eg to decide which of two people does, gets etc something. Heads or tails? Heads you do the dishes, tails I do them.

keep one's head

to remain calm and sensible in a crisis etc.

lose one's head

to become angry or excited, or to act foolishly in a crisis.

make head or tail of

to understand. I can't make head or tail of these instructions.

make headway

to make progress. We're not making much headway with this new scheme.

off one's head

mad. You must be off your head to work for nothing.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

'Why, she is not settled yet, Mr Headstone. I'd rather you didn't see her till she is settled, if it was all the same to you.'

'Look here, Hexam.' Mr Bradley Headstone, highly certificated stipendiary schoolmaster, drew his right forefinger through one of the buttonholes of the boy's coat, and looked at it attentively.

Bradley Headstone looked at his finger again, took it out of the buttonhole and looked at it closer, bit the side of it and looked at it again.

'Is it well to leave my sister alone, Mr Headstone?'

View in context

Bless your soul, sir, why--there, I wouldn't wish to say it everywhere, but--even this headstone, for all the flourish wrote upon en, is not paid for."

He passed on through the churchyard, where, amongst the new headstones, he saw one of a somewhat superior design to the rest.

View in context

Just before they entered upon this field they saw three little mounds that looked like graves, with a pretty headstone to each one of them.

View in context

Her husband lies in the same spot now; and they have each a simple headstone above, and a plain grey block at their feet, to mark the graves.

View in context

Cobb was mother only to a little headstone in the churchyard, where reposed "Sarah Ann, beloved daughter of Jeremiah and Sarah Cobb, aged seventeen months;" but the name of mother was better than nothing, and served at any rate as a reminder of her woman's crown of blessedness.

View in context

I cannot tell what sentiment haunted the quite solitary churchyard, with its inscribed headstone; its gate, its two trees, its low horizon, girdled by a broken wall, and its newly-risen crescent, attesting the hour of eventide.

View in context

These brief, stammering illuminations brought out with ghastly distinctness the monuments and headstones of the cemetery and seemed to set them dancing.

View in context

And when the play was over the graveyard was a sorry sight with trodden grass and broken headstones. So by degrees it came about that these plays lost their connection with the churches, and were no more played in or near them.