arrowhead
Americannoun
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the head or tip of an arrow, usually separable from the shaft and conventionally wedge-shaped.
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anything resembling or having the conventional shape of an arrowhead.
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Also called swamp potato. any aquatic or bog plant of the genus Sagittaria, having usually arrowhead-shaped leaves and clusters of white flowers.
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any of several other plants having arrowhead-shaped leaves.
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the dartlike form in an egg-and-dart ornament.
noun
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the pointed tip of an arrow, often removable from the shaft
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something that resembles the head of an arrow in shape, such as a triangular decoration on garments used to reinforce joins
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any aquatic herbaceous plant of the genus Sagittaria, esp S. sagittifolia, having arrow-shaped aerial leaves and linear submerged leaves: family Alismataceae
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of arrowhead
Explanation
The sharp tip of an arrow is called an arrowhead. Ancient arrowheads were made from carved, sharpened stone and pieces of bone. If you're an archaeologist, you probably think of an arrowhead as an artifact that you might find, evidence of some ancient society. As long ago as the Stone Age, hunters attached arrowheads to their weapons, and more modern warriors and hunters used arrowheads made of metal. The word comes from arrow, with its Old English root of arwan, and head, from the Old English heafod, "top of the body," but also "top."
Vocabulary lists containing arrowhead
Native American History - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
Ironically, the National Park Service logo is an arrowhead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
Think of it like an arrow, where the arrowhead holds a portion of the information and the arrow tail holds the rest, Lee said.
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2025
Department of Interior for “unwarranted and relentless” trademark claims in a battle over the use of an arrowhead logo.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 23, 2024
Gone was the passivity and in its place an arrowhead of energy and intent straight to the heart of City's defence.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2023
When she was ready, she broke off the barbed arrowhead and pulled out the shaft, chanting in the singsong tongue of the Lhazareen.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
The same chemical signatures were detected on 250-year-old arrowheads preserved in Swedish museum collections.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 12, 2026
In the process, they uncovered hoe-spades, spears, knives, arrowheads, chisels, axes and swords made of iron.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2025
The team used it to successfully haft two flint arrowheads to wooden handles.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 22, 2024
Valdivieso says arrowheads were uncovered, indicating early human presence.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2024
Johnny explained that the place had once been an Indian burying ground and how as a boy, he had often come there to hunt arrowheads.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
