headgear

[hed-geer]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR headgear ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any covering for the head, especially a hat, cap, bonnet, etc.

a protective covering for the head, as a steel helmet or football helmet.

the parts of a harness about the animal's head.

Orthodontics Informal. a device worn on the head and attached by wires and elastic bands to braces in the mouth, used to create backward tension in the process of repositioning protruding teeth.

Mining. a headframe and its machinery.

Origin of headgear

First recorded in 1530–40; head + gear

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for headgear

helmet, fedora, cap, cover, hood, coronet, headdress, chapeau, capote, lid, straw, bucket, bonnet, sailor, skimmer, millinery, Stetson, Panama, bowler, boater

Examples from the Web for headgear

Contemporary Examples of headgear

The prevailing color is pink; the headgear: red bows and ears; the guests: super giddy.
Explosion of Cute: Inside the Superfan Mania of Hello Kitty Con 2014
Sarah Bay Williams
November 2, 2014
Perry, for his part, wore no headgear that might detract from his wonderful hair.
Rick Perry’s Jewish Gambit
Lloyd Grove
September 20, 2011
British tradition dictates that the posher you are, the more eccentric the headgear.
Notes From a Royal Wedding
Tina Brown
May 1, 2011
Both Queen Elizabeth and Kate Middleton used ribbons to dress up their headgear.
Who Wore the Hat Best: Kate Middleton vs. The Queen
Caroline Linton
April 23, 2011

Historical Examples of headgear

Manners and customs change no less quickly than headgear and skirts.
In the Heart of Vosges
Matilda Betham-Edwards
They stopped a few yards from a pit shaft with its headgear and wheel.
A Son of Hagar
Sir Hall Caine
On his head he wore a sort of headgear, bound round and closed at the top.
Notre-Dame de Paris
Victor Hugo
"Thank you, sir," replied one of the men, touching the brim of his headgear.
Dave Darrin After The Mine Layers
H. Irving Hancock
That the chief form of headgear among the Swiss is the Alpine hat.
The American Credo
George Jean Nathan

British Dictionary definitions for headgear

headgear

noun

any head covering, esp a hat

any part of a horse's harness that is worn on the head

the hoisting mechanism at the pithead of a mine

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