Showing results for "headhunting"

• present participle of headhunt.

headhunting

American  

[hed-huhn-ting] / ˈhɛdˌhʌn tɪŋ /

noun

1. (among certain primitive peoples) the practice of hunting down and decapitating victims and preserving their heads as trophies.

2. the act or practice of actively searching for new employees, especially for professionals or executives.

   Every June the electronics manufacturers go headhunting among the newly graduated engineers.

3. the act or practice of firing without cause, especially someone disliked.

   Their periodic headhunting was a contributing factor in the company's failures.

4. the act or practice of trying to destroy the power, position, or influence of one's competitors or foes.

   Headhunting is ferocious in advertising.

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Etymology

Origin of headhunting

First recorded in 1850–55; head + hunting

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

headhunting

As I reported at the time, his name came to the Board of Governors independently of a headhunting firm that the board had commissioned to find candidates for postmaster general.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2024

Several headhunting firms offered her opportunities, but she settled on an American company based in China.

From New York Times ● Nov. 16, 2022

In the city's Futian district, Candice, a 28-year-old who works with a headhunting business, expressed dismay over the latest lockdown measures.

From Reuters ● Sep. 3, 2022

Swanson doesn’t want to be construed as some headhunting reliever.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 1, 2022

The quality of statesmanship in Wood which dealt with these problems and settled them so that from a slave-holding, polygamous, headhunting land there arose a self-governing community is of the highest order.

From The Career of Leonard Wood by Joseph Hamblen Sears