What does heads-up mean? As an exclamation, Heads up! is used to call attention to danger or another important matter. As a basic noun, a heads-up is an advance notice or warning.
First recorded in 1940–45
First recorded in 1945–50
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Heads up, as those seasons are added, Seasons 3-4 of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” are going away.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 30, 2026
Heads up: This is a real create-your-own, mix-and-match, choose-your-own-ending type recipe.
From Salon • Sep. 16, 2023
"I said 'why you have your heads down? Heads up, it was good'," Guardiola said of that moment.
From BBC • Feb. 22, 2023
Heads up, insomniacs: The offensively challenged Broncos have already played four of their five prime-time games, with just a Chiefs game to go — in mid-December.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 21, 2022
Heads up, they continued to watch him go in company with the Mongols.
From The Defiant Agents by Norton, Andre
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.
