head
HEAD scores 8 points in Scrabble, has three anagrams, HADE, AHED and HAED, and sits one letter from 16 other words.
Noun 4 meanings
The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.
“Be careful when you pet that dog on the head; it may bite.”
The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
“What does it say at the head of the page?”
A leader or expert.
“I'd like to speak to the head of the department.”
A significant or important part.
“The expedition followed the river all the way to the head.”
Adjective 4 meanings
Of, relating to, or intended for the head.
Foremost in rank or importance.
“the head cook”
Placed at the top or the front.
Coming from in front.
Verb 4 meanings
To be in command of. (See also head up.)
“Who heads the board of trustees?”
To come at the beginning or front of; to commence.
“A group of clowns headed the procession.”
To strike with the head
“to head the ball”
To move in a specified direction.
“We are going to head up North for our holiday.”
Etymology
From Middle English efd, had, hafd, heafd, hed, heed, hefet, heid, het, hevd, heved, hevid, hiede, hæfd, hæfedd, from Old English hēafod (“head; top; leader; origin”), from Proto-West Germanic *haubud, from Proto-Germanic *haubudą (“head”), from Proto-Indo-European *káput (“head”), from *kap- (“head; bowl, cup”).
Similar and opposite words
HEAD is the part of the body that holds the brain, mouth and main sense organs, and by extension the top or front of anything. At rank 270, with a count of 266,844, it is one of the most common four-letter words. The neighbours alone fill a page.
HEAD in numbers
- Four letters: H, E, A, D.
- Base score is 8, with H worth 4.
- Anagrams are HADE, AHED and HAED.
- Sixteen neighbours, including READ, HELD, HEAR and LEAD.
How many words are one tile away from HEAD?
The count is 16. READ, HELD, HEAR, LEAD, DEAD and HEAT are the everyday ones. Almost every position can be swapped, so HEAD is a fertile hook word.
Losing the H costs points: READ scores 5, because R is worth 1, while HELD matches HEAD at 8.
Points shift with the letter. LEAD and DEAD are cheap at 5 and 6, while HEAT scores 7, so the heavy H matters more than the swapped tile.
The -EAD pattern is also tricky in speech: READ, LEAD and HEAD show how the same letters can sound different, which is why rhyme clues in puzzles often need extra care.
Are the anagrams of HEAD playable?
HADE, AHED and HAED all use the same four letters and all score 8. They are rare, so check your game’s word list before playing any of them.
HEAD itself is the only everyday form. The others work as fall-back plays when a lane forces a different letter order, and they let a single rack offer four distinct words.
How does HEAD sit in the four-letter list?
The four-letter list is split almost evenly here: 259 of 5,577 words begin with H and 297 end in D, each about 5 percent. The -EAD tail matches READ, INSTEAD, LEAD, DEAD and AHEAD in spelling, though pronunciations vary.
Rhymes with head
All rhymesOne letter away
Questions people ask
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