flathead

[ flat-hed ]

/ ˈflætˌhɛd /

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noun, plural (especially collectively) flat·head, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) flat·heads.

any of several scorpaenoid fishes of the family Platycephalidae, chiefly inhabiting waters of the Indo-Pacific region and used for food.

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Origin of flathead

First recorded in 1825–35; flat¹ + head

Words nearby flathead

flatfish, flat flap, flatfoot, flatfooted, flat-grained, flathead, flathead catfish, flatheaded apple tree borer, flatheaded borer, flatiron, flat-joint pointing

Other definitions for flathead (2 of 4)

flat head

noun

a flat screw head.

Other definitions for flathead (3 of 4)

Flathead¹

[ flat-hed ]

/ ˈflætˌhɛd /

noun

a member of a tribe of Salishan Indians of northwest Montana.

a Chinook Indian.

Origin of Flathead

First recorded in 1530–40; so called from their supposed practice of flattening their children's heads

Other definitions for flathead (4 of 4)

Flathead²

[ flat-hed ]

/ ˈflætˌhɛd /

noun

a river in SE British Columbia and NW Montana, flowing S to Flathead Lake and S and W to the Clark Fork River. 240 miles (385 km) long.

How to use flathead in a sentence

I dern near bust my head open jest thinkin' up ways to make the flathead see.
In the Arena|Booth Tarkington
Again we were near the Flathead, and beyond it lay the blue and purple of the Kootenai Hills.
Tenting To-night|Mary Roberts Rinehart
It turned the Flathead beside us to golden glory, and transformed the evergreen thickets into fairy glades of light and shadow.
Tenting To-night|Mary Roberts Rinehart
The Flathead Indian is deformed in babyhood by being compressed between boards until the head changes its shape.
What a Young Woman Ought to Know|Mary Wood-Allen

However, minke whales have a flathead in front of their two blow holes and are black to dark gray on the back.
Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the Western North Atlantic|Stephen Leatherwood

British Dictionary definitions for flathead

flathead

/ (ˈflætˌhɛd) /

noun plural -head or -heads

any Pacific scorpaenoid food fish of the family Platycephalidae, which resemble gurnards

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012