head

phrases

• a/per head

  for each person

  The meal cost £20 per head.

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• bang/knock/hit (someone’s) heads together

  informal
  to speak angrily to people so that they will stop arguing

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• be/get in over your head

  to be or become involved in a situation in which you do not have the necessary skills, knowledge, or money to succeed

  Inexperienced investors may indeed have been in over their heads.

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• be off your head

  British informal
  to be crazy

  You must be off your head if you think you’re going to get away with this.

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• be out of your head

  informal
  to be unable to think clearly, especially because of having taken drugs or drunk too much alcohol

  Joey was lying on the floor, out of his head on vodka.

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• cannot make head nor/or tail of something

  informal
  used for saying that you cannot understand something at all

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• a clear head

  the ability to think quickly and calmly in a difficult situation

  If you want to get out of here, you’ve got to keep a clear head.

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• come/bring something to a head

  informal
  if a situation comes to a head, or if you bring it to a head, it suddenly becomes worse

  Everything came to a head last week when two of the teachers resigned.

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• do someone’s head in

  British informal
  to be more annoying, difficult, boring etc than you can deal with

  Working in this place is doing my head in.

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• from head to toe

  used for emphasizing that you mean all of someone’s body

  They were covered in mud from head to toe.

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• get up/build up/work up a head of steam

  to start to become active and successful

  This week the campaign finally started building up a head of steam.

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• get it into/through your head (that)

  informal
  to understand and accept something

  Why can’t you get it into your head that we’re just friends?

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• get someone/something out of your head

  informal
  to stop thinking about someone or something

  I can’t get the pictures of those starving children out of my head.

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• get/take it into your head to do something

  informal
  to decide to do something, and be determined to do it even if other people do not like it

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• get your head round something

  British informal
  to understand and accept something that seems strange

  Have you got your head around your new job yet?

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• give someone head

  very informal
  to use your mouth and tongue on someone’s sex organs in order to give them pleasure

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• give someone their head

  British
  to allow someone the freedom to make their own decisions

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• go over someone’s head

  1. 1

     to go to a more important or powerful person in order to get what you want

     I was furious that he went over my head and complained to my manager.

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  2. 2

     to be too difficult for someone to understand

     A lot of what was said in the meeting went right over my head.

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• go to someone’s head

  informal
  1. 1

     if success goes to someone’s head, it makes them think that they are better or more important than they really are

     Success at such an early age can go to someone’s head.

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  2. 2

     if an alcoholic drink goes to someone’s head, it makes them drunk

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• have a big/swollen head

  informal
  to believe that you are very intelligent, important etc

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• have a (good) head for heights

  British
  to not feel afraid when you stand on a high place and look down

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• have a (good) head for figures/business etc

  to be good at doing calculations with numbers/at doing things relating to business etc

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• have a good head on your shoulders

  informal
  to be intelligent and able to make good decisions

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• have your head in the clouds

  informal
  to be thinking your own thoughts and not concentrating on what is happening around you

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• have your head (screwed) on right

  informal
  to be able to make sensible decisions

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• head and shoulders above the rest/others

  informal
  much better than all the others

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• head of hair

  all the hair on your head, especially when it is thick

  He still has a good head of hair.

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• head over heels

  1. 1

     if you fall head over heels, you fall so that your head goes down and your feet go up in the air

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  2. 2

     if you are or fall head over heels in love with someone, you love or start to love them very much

     We met in 1998, and fell head over heels in love.

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• heads up

  mainly American spoken
  used for telling someone to pay attention or for warning them about something

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• heads will roll

  informal
  used for saying that people will be severely punished for something, often by losing their jobs

  It seems certain more heads will roll as the investigation gathers momentum.

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• keep your head above water

  informal
  to manage to live or keep a business working even though you are not earning much money

  We all have to co-operate just to keep our heads above water.

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• keep your head down

  British informal
  to continue doing something quietly, especially when there is trouble happening around you

  I have got to keep my head down and play it as it comes.

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• laugh/shout/scream your head off

  informal
  to laugh, shout etc very loudly

  I bet Nigel’s sitting at home now laughing his head off.

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• like banging/hitting your head against a brick wall

  used for describing an annoying situation in which nothing you do seems to produce any results

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• need your head examined

  informal
  to seem to be crazy or to be doing stupid things

  He needs his head examined, paying that much money for an old wreck of a car.

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• on your (own) head be it

  spoken
  used for warning someone that if they do something, they will have to take responsibility for it and suffer the results of it

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• put something out of your head

  informal
  to stop thinking or worrying about something

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• put your heads together

  to think about a problem or to plan something together with other people

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• stand/turn something on its head

  informal
  to make someone think in a completely new way about something

  Einstein’s theories stood the mathematical world on its head.

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