- present tense form of headquarter (3rd person singular).
headquarters
Americannoun
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a center of operations, as of the police or a business, from which orders are issued; the chief administrative office of an organization.
The operatives were always in touch with headquarters.
-
the offices or working location of a military commander; the place from which a commander customarily issues orders.
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a military unit consisting of the commander, his staff, and other assistants.
plural noun
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any centre or building from which operations are directed, as in the military, the police, etc
-
a military formation comprising the commander, his staff, and supporting echelons
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of headquarters
Explanation
The main office of an organization is its headquarters. The headquarters of your favorite video game company might be in New York. Companies, clubs, and religious groups all have headquarters, or a central administrative location. Militaries also have headquarters, although the word has a slightly different meaning in that context — military headquarters are where commanders and their staffs live and work. The word has been around since the 1600's, from the "most important or principal" meaning of head and quarters, originally "military dwelling place," and later "lodgings."
Vocabulary lists containing headquarters
Superhero Lexicon
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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.
Yuka was founded in France where it still has its headquarters, but three years ago co-founder and CEO Julie Chapon moved to the States because the app was doing so well there.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
VW's Wolfsburg headquarters and several of its plants are in Lower Saxony.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
The last time Hall saw him was at the spartan Oakland cottage that served as headquarters for their hard-line group, Stop AI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
Protesters have demonstrated in recent months outside the LAPD’s downtown L.A. headquarters against Flock.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
Upon arriving at the club’s headquarters on Gogolsky Boulevard, Bobby was first introduced to two young Soviet masters, both in their early twenties: Evgeni Vasukov and Alexander Nikitin.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
