Roundhead

[ round-hed ]

/ ˈraʊndˌhɛd /

noun English History.

a member or adherent of the Parliamentarians or Puritan party during the civil wars of the 17th century (so called in derision by the Cavaliers because they wore their hair cut short).

Origin of Roundhead

First recorded in 1635–45; round¹ + head

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for roundhead

"He was all things to all men;" could aid a smuggler, drink with a Cavalier, pray with a Roundhead.
The Buccaneer|Mrs. S. C. Hall
Yet fortunately, many of its ancient monuments and furnishings escaped the wrath of the Roundhead iconoclasts.
British Highways And Byways From A Motor Car|Thomas D. Murphy
My trees are troubled with root aphis, roundhead borer and leaf-roller.
The Apple|Various
Who neither love for fashion nor for fear,As far from Roundhead as from Cavalier.
Nooks and Corners of English Life, Past and Present|John Timbs

John Adams, in another land, would surely have been a courtier—a Cavalier rather than a Roundhead.
Greenwich Village|Anna Alice Chapin

British Dictionary definitions for roundhead

Roundhead

/ (ˈraʊndˌhɛd) /

noun

English history a supporter of Parliament against Charles I during the Civil WarCompare Cavalier

Word Origin for Roundhead

referring to their short-cut hair

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for roundhead

Roundhead

"adherent of the Parliamentary party in the English Civil War," 1641, so called for their custom of wearing the hair close-cropped, in contrast to the flowing curls of the cavaliers.