spearhead

[ speer-hed ]

noun

1. the sharp-pointed head that forms the piercing end of a spear.
2. any person, contingent, or force that leads an attack, undertaking, etc.:

   Cuba was the spearhead of the independence movement within Latin America.

verb (used with object)

1. to lead or initiate (an undertaking):

   She is spearheading an ambitious research project whose results may be used by NASA.

   Synonyms: pioneer, initiate, start, lead

spearhead

/ ˈspɪəˌhɛd /

noun

1. the pointed head of a spear
2. the leading force in a military attack
3. any person or thing that leads or initiates an attack, a campaign, etc

verb

1. tr to lead or initiate (an attack, a campaign, etc)

Word History and Origins

Origin of spearhead¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; spear ¹, head

Example Sentences

Boris Johnson, the UK’s prime minister since 2019 and the spearhead of the 2016 Brexit campaign, resigned today.

From Quartz

She did not spearhead initiatives to help mothers rejoin the world of work.

From The Daily Beast

Putin appears to be using elite commandos—Spetsnaz—to spearhead his stealth move into Crimea and, perhaps, beyond.

From The Daily Beast

Price runs his own MRM on-line magazine, The Spearhead, which both compliments and competes with AV4M.

From The Daily Beast

He will travel to Sanford this week to help spearhead protest rallies.

From The Daily Beast

Or helping spearhead the push for comprehensive immigration reform among American Christians.

From The Daily Beast

MacRae's seat, stone-marker, and aboriginal spearhead; the three lined up like the sights of a modern rifle.

From Project Gutenberg

See if you can strike off tiny flakes until the large flake looks like a spearhead.

From Project Gutenberg

In the coffin were also a bronze spearhead and several weapons of flint—facts which all go to establish a remote date.

From Project Gutenberg

On 4th June, 1915, in Gallipoli, you forced your way like a spearhead into and through line upon line of Turkish trenches.

From Project Gutenberg

The spearhead at the same rate would weigh about eighteen pounds twelve ounces.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• initiate
• launch
• prompt
• spur