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headgear

American  
[hed-geer] / ˈhɛdˌgɪər /

noun

  • headgears
    plural
  1. any covering for the head, especially a hat, cap, bonnet, etc.

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

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

  4. 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.

  5. Mining. a headframe and its machinery.


headgear British  
/ ˈhɛdˌɡɪə /

noun

  1. any head covering, esp a hat

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

  3. 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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of headgear

First recorded in 1530–40; head + gear


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

At times, diners will win don virtual reality headgear.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

And, while a technical marvel, the Apple Vision Pro "spacial computing" headgear launched in 2024 with a price tag of $3,500 and has made little traction in the market.

From Barron's ● Apr. 21, 2026

For him it’s the coolest headgear, even more so because his dad gave it to him, and it’s something he would wear on an average day, or for a press engagement like this.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2026

If he weren’t a trauma doctor, you might chalk up the missing headgear to romantic imagery and an homage to “Then Came Bronson.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026

But as soon as I was inside the door, I took off the headgear and told them who I was.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood

That’s when you don’t want to fight with those 10-ounce gloves or you don’t fight with those headgears.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 26, 2018

While Brennan and Smith waited with the headgears John followed orders, returning to the basement when he believed he had talked to himself long enough to make the test accurate.

From Spring Street A Story of Los Angeles by James H. Richardson

Many of the elderly society ladies wore immense headgears like turbans, with sometimes one or two marabou feathers, which were considered extremely elegant.

From A Little Girl in Old Boston by Amanda Minnie Douglas

There is still a trace of the cockade as a badge in certain military headgears in England and elsewhere.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5 "Clervaux" to "Cockade" by Various

Proposing to count how many different headgears are to be seen in Bombay alone, we had to abandon the task as impracticable after a fortnight.

From From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan by H. P. (Helena Petrovna) Blavatsky

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