headlong

American  

[hed-lawng, -long] / ˈhɛdˌlɔŋ, -ˌlɒŋ /

adverb

1. with the head foremost; headfirst.

   to plunge headlong into the water.

2. without delay; hastily.

   to plunge headlong into work.

3. without deliberation; rashly.

   to rush headlong into battle.

---

adjective

1. undertaken quickly and suddenly; made precipitately; hasty.

   a headlong flight.

2. rash; impetuous.

   a headlong denunciation.

3. done or going with the head foremost.

   a headlong dive into the pool.

headlong British  

/ ˈhɛdˌlɒŋ /

adverb

1. with the head foremost; headfirst

2. with great haste

---

adjective

1. archaic (of slopes, etc) very steep; precipitous

Other Word Forms

• headlongness noun

Etymology

Origin of headlong

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English hedlong, earlier hedling; head, -ling ²

Example Sentences

Another way to gain food exposure without running headlong into U.S. consumer pressures is geographic diversification.

From The Wall Street Journal

But the audaciousness is always in service of capturing the headlong rush of new love, the characters as giddy as the filmmaking.

From Los Angeles Times

There was “a headlong stampede to protectionism and restriction in imports,” in the words of economic historian Charles Kindleberger.

From The Wall Street Journal

Ireland hosts one of the world's fast-growing clusters of data centres, but is running headlong into the difficult consequences.

From Barron's

There they crashed headlong into the source of the bellowing: a tall woman in a fur cape, who now lay sprawled on the floor with three orange-splattered ghosts hovering above her.

From Literature

Related Words

• breakneck
• hurried
• sudden