loggerhead
Americannoun
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a thick-headed or stupid person; blockhead.
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a ball or bulb of iron with a long handle, used, after being heated, to melt tar, heat liquids, etc.
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a rounded post, in the stern of a whaleboat, around which the harpoon line is passed.
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a circular inkwell having a broad, flat base.
idioms
noun
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Also called: loggerhead turtle. a large-headed turtle, Caretta caretta, occurring in most seas: family Chelonidae
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a North American shrike, Lanius ludovicianus, having a grey head and body, black-and-white wings and tail, and black facial stripe
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a tool consisting of a large metal sphere attached to a long handle, used for warming liquids, melting tar, etc
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a strong round upright post in a whaleboat for belaying the line of a harpoon
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archaic a blockhead; dunce
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engaged in dispute or confrontation
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of loggerhead
1580–90; logger block of wood (first attested alone in 18th century) + head
Vocabulary lists containing loggerhead
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.
"Bulldozers on the beaches have already damaged the nesting sites of loggerhead turtles, which are threatened with extinction," Olsi Nika, a marine biologist who heads the NGO EcoAlbania, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Federal authorities charged a Daly City man in an international trafficking plot to smuggle nearly 300 poached loggerhead musk turtles from Florida to Taiwan.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
A rare loggerhead turtle - a species not native to UK waters - has been rescued after being found near-dead on a Suffolk beach after being washed ashore in stormy weather.
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2026
"Atmospheric conditions including wind and extreme weather events such as storms have been shown to trigger abnormal migratory behaviors in other large marine animals such as loggerhead sea turtles," said Ajemian.
From Science Daily ● May 20, 2024
Suddenly a loggerhead stuck up its knobby brown head.
From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen
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.
