towhead

[toh-hed]

noun

a head of very light blond, almost white hair.
a person with such hair.
a sand bar in a river, especially a sand bar with a stand of cottonwood trees.

Origin of towhead

An Americanism dating back to 1820–30; tow² + head

Related formstow-head·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for towhead

Contemporary Examples of towhead

Turn the page, and there, in fresh ginghams, would be mom, baking pies with one hand while patting her towhead with the other.
Doug Kenney: The Odd Comic Genius Behind ‘Animal House’ and National Lampoon
Robert Sam Anson
March 1, 2014

Historical Examples of towhead

It warn't no towhead that you could float by in ten minutes.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
Pleased and surprised to have escaped, the towhead withdrew.
Local Color
Irvin S. Cobb
"Peterson didn't say nothin' about th' snag or th' towhead," he growled.
Bring Me His Ears
Clarence E. Mulford
As we dropped below the Towhead, the Boy, for once silent, wistfully gazed astern.
Afloat on the Ohio
Reuben Gold Thwaites
Minnie nodded her towhead toward a weather-beaten house of two rooms across the street.
The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation
Annie Fellows Johnston

British Dictionary definitions for towhead

towhead

noun often derogatory

a person with blond or yellowish hair
a head of such hair

Word Origin for towhead

from tow ² (flax)

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 towhead

also tow-head, in reference to tousled blond hair, 1830, from tow (n.) + head (n.). Related: Towheaded.