head

a head and per head [for] a person; [for]

an individual. (Also used for cattle.)

How much do you charge per head for din-

ner? It costs four dollars a head.

head and shoulders above someone or

something clearly superior to someone or

something. (Often with stand, as in the

example.) This wine is head and shoul-

ders above that one. John stands head

and shoulders above Bob.

head for someone or something to aim for or

move toward someone or something.

She waved good-bye as she headed for the

door. Ann came in and headed for her

mother.

head for the last roundup to reach the

end of something. (Originally said of a

dying cowboy.) This ballpoint pen is

headed for the last roundup. I have to get

another one. I am so weak. I think I’m

headed for the last roundup.

head over heels in debt deeply in debt.

Finally, when she was head over heels in

debt, she tore up her credit cards.  I

couldn’t stand being head over heels in

debt, so I always pay off my bills

immediately.

head over heels in love (with someone)

very much in love with someone. (See

also fall head over heels in love (with

someone).) John is head over heels in love

with Mary. They are head over heels in

head someone or something off to prevent

someone or something from arriving.

The doctors worked round the clock to

head the epidemic off. Bill headed his

mother off so that we had time to clean

up the mess before she saw it. T The

farmer headed off the herd of sheep before

it ruined our picnic.

head something up to serve as leader or head

of something. I had already agreed to

head the fund-raising campaign up. T

They asked me to head up the meeting.

heads or tails the face of a coin or the

other side of a coin. (Often used in an act

of coin tossing, where one circumstance

is valid if the front of a coin appears and

another circumstance is valid if the other

side appears.) Jim looked at Jane as he

f lipped the coin into the air. “Heads or

tails?” he asked.   It doesn’t matter

whether the result of the toss is heads or

tails. I won’t like the outcome in any case.

Heads up! Raise your head from work and

look around you carefully for informa-

tion, danger, or warnings that you need

to see! Heads up! Watch out for that

door! Heads up! There is a car coming.

heads will roll someone will get into se-

vere trouble. (Informal.) When the

company’s year-end results are known,

heads will roll. Heads will roll when the

principal sees the damaged classroom.

hear a peep out of someone to get some

sort of a response from someone; to hear

the smallest word from someone. (Usu-

ally in the negative.) I don’t want to

hear another peep out of you. I didn’t

know they were there. I didn’t hear a peep

out of them.

hear of something to tolerate something; to

permit something. (Usually negative.)

No, you cannot go to the movies! I won’t

hear of it! My mother wouldn’t hear of

my marrying Bill.

heart and soul the central core [of some-

one or something]. (Also literal.) My

very heart and soul was made sad by her

hurtful attitude. Now we are getting to

the heart and soul of the matter. This

feature is the heart and soul of my

invention.

[heart goes out to someone] Go to one’s

heart goes out to someone.

[heart is in one’s mouth] Go to one’s heart

is in one’s mouth.

[heart is in the right place] Go to one’s

heart is in the right place.

[heart is (dead) set against something] Go

to one’s heart is (dead) set against some-

thing.

[heart is set on something] Go to one’s heart

is set on something.

[heart misses a beat] Go to one’s heart

misses a beat.

[heart skips a beat] Go to one’s heart skips

a beat.

[heart stands still] Go to one’s heart stands

still.

heavy going difficult to do, understand, or

make progress with. (Informal.) Jim

finds math heavy going.  Talking to

Mary is heavy going. She has nothing to

say.

hedge one’s bets to reduce one’s loss on a

bet or on an investment by counterbal-

ancing the loss in some way. (Slang.)

Bob bet Ann that the plane would be late.

He usually hedges his bets. This time he

called the airline and asked about the

plane before he made the bet.  John

bought some stock and then bet Mary that

the stock would go down in value in one

year. He has hedged his bets perfectly. If the

stock goes up, he sells it, pays off Mary, and

still makes a profit. If it goes down, he re-

duces his loss by winning the bet he made

with Mary.

hell on earth a very unpleasant situation,

as if one were in hell. That man made

my life hell on earth! The whole time I

was there was just hell on earth.

help do something to assist [someone to] do

something. Bill can help load the truck.

I am too tired to help mow the grass.

Bill can help us load the truck. I am too

tired to help you mow the grass.

help oneself to take whatever one wants or

needs. Please have some candy. Help

yourself. When you go to a cafeteria, you

help yourself to the food.  Bill helped

himself to dessert.

help (someone or something) out (with some-

one or something) to assist (someone or

something) with a person or a thing.

Can you help me out with my geometry?

Yes, I can help out. T Please help out my

son with his geometry. Please help me

out around the house. T We helped out the

school with its fund-raising.

hem and haw (around) to be uncertain

about something; to be evasive; to say

“ah” and “eh” when speaking—avoiding

saying something meaningful. (Folksy.)

Stop hemming and hawing around. I

want an answer. Don’t just hem and

haw around. Speak up. We want to hear

what you think.

hem someone or something in to trap or en-

close someone or something. The large

city buildings hem me in. T Don’t hem in

the bird. Let it have a way to escape.

the here and now the present, as opposed

to the past or the future. I don’t care

what’s happening tomorrow or next week!

I care about the here and now. The past

is dead. Let’s worry about the here and

now.

here and there at this place and that; from

place to place. (Could imply a casual

search. See also here, there, and every-

where; hither and thither.) We find rare

books in used-book stores here and there.

She didn’t make a systematic search. She

just looked here and there.

Here goes nothing. I am beginning to do

something that will probably fail or be

poorly done. (Informal.) Sally stood on

the diving board and said, “Here goes

nothing.” As Ann walked onto the stage,

she whispered, “Here goes nothing.”

Here (it) goes. Something is going to start.;

I will start now.; I will do it now. (Infor-

mal or slang.) I’m ready to start now.

Here goes. Okay, it’s my turn to kick the

ball. Here it goes!

here, there, and everywhere everywhere;

at all points. (See also hither, thither, and

yon. Compare this with here and there.)

Fred searched here, there, and every-

where, frantically looking for the lost check.

She did not rest until she had been here,

there, and everywhere, shopping for just

the right gift.

Here you go. and There you go. Here is

what you asked for. (Informal.) “Here

you go,” said the waiter as he put the plate

on the table. There you go. Here is your

hamburger and your drink.

Here’s looking at you. Drink up. (A sim-

ple drinking toast.) Here’s look at you,

Tom. Thanks for the drink. Here’s look-

ing at you.

Here’s mud in your eye. Drink up! (A

simple and jocular drinking toast.)

Here’s mud in your eye, Tom. Thanks

for the drink. Here’s mud in your eye.

Here’s to someone or something. <an expres-

sion used as a toast to someone or some-

thing to wish someone or something

well.> Here’s to Jim and Mary! May

they be very happy! Here’s to your new

job!

hide-and-seek a guessing game where one

has to find something or figure out some-

thing that is concealed or disguised.

(Refers to a game where a person hides

and another person tries to find the hid-

den person.) I am tired of running up

against a game of hide-and-seek every

time I ask to see the financial records of

this company. I have been trying to see

the manager for two days. Where is she? I

refuse to play hide-and-seek any longer. I

want to see her now!

hide one’s face in shame to cover one’s

face because of shame or embarrassment.

Mary was so embarrassed. She could

only hide her face in shame. When Tom

broke Ann’s crystal vase, he wanted to hide

his face in shame.

hide one’s head in the sand Go to bury

one’s head in the sand.

hide one’s light under a bushel to conceal

one’s good ideas or talents. (A biblical

theme.) Jane has some good ideas, but

she doesn’t speak very often. She hides her

light under a bushel. Don’t hide your

light under a bushel. Share your gifts with

other people.

high and dry 1. safe; unbothered by diffi-

culties; unscathed. (Refers to being safe

from a flood.) While the riot was go-

ing on, I was high and dry in my apart-

ment.  Liz came out of the argument

high and dry. 2. abandoned; unsupported

and helpless. (See also leave someone high

and dry.) Everyone else on the commit-

tee quit, leaving me high and dry. The

company moved to Chicago, and I was left

high and dry in Dallas.

high-and-mighty self-important and arro-

gant. I don’t know why Albert is so high-

and-mighty. He’s no better than the rest

of us. The boss acts high-and-mighty

because he can fire us all.

high as a kite Go to (as) high as a kite.

high man on the totem pole the person

at the top of the hierarchy; the person in

charge of an organization. (Informal.

Compare this with low man on the totem

pole.) I don’t want to talk to a secretary.

I demand to talk to the high man on the

totem pole.  Who’s in charge around

here? Who’s high man on the totem pole?

highflier a person who is ambitious or who

is very likely to be successful. (Informal.)

Jack was one of the highfliers of our uni-

versity year, and he is now in the foreign

office. Tom is a highf lier and has ap-

plied for the post of managing director.

hightail it out of somewhere to run or ride

a horse away from somewhere fast.

(Folksy. Typically heard in western

movies.) Here comes the sheriff. We’d

better hightail it out of here. Look at

that guy go. He really hightailed it out of

town.

highways and byways [all the] roads; the

major and minor roads and routes. (Both

literal and figurative.) I hope I meet you

again some day on life’s highways and by-

ways. The city council voted to plant

new trees along all the highways and by-

ways of the town.

hinge on something to depend on some-

thing. This all hinges on how much risk

you’re willing to take. Whether we have

the picnic hinges on the weather.

hit a happy medium Go to strike a happy

medium.

hit-and-miss and hit-or-miss carelessly;

aimlessly; without plan or direction.

There was no planning. It was just hit-

and-miss. We handed out the free tick-

ets hit-or-miss. Some people got one; oth-

ers got five or six.

hit-and-run an accident where the driver

of a car strikes a person or another ve-

hicle and speeds away without admitting

to the deed or stopping to help. Fred

was injured in a hit-and-run accident.

The state passed a law making any kind

of hit-and-run accident a felony.

hit a plateau to reach a higher level of ac-

tivity, sales, production, output, etc., and

then stop and remain unchanged.

When my sales hit a plateau, my boss gave

me a pep talk. When production hit a

plateau, the company built a new factory.

hit a sour note Go to strike a sour note.

hit bottom to reach the lowest or worst

point. Our profits have hit bottom. This

is our worst year ever. When my life hit

bottom, I began to feel much better. I knew

that if there was going to be any change,

it would be for the better.

hit home and strike home to really make

sense; [for a comment] to make a very

good point. Mary’s criticism of my

clothes hit home, so I changed.  The

teacher’s comment struck home and the

student vowed to work harder.

hit it off (with someone) to quickly become

good friends with someone. Look how

John hit it off with Mary. Yes, they really

hit it off.

hit one close to home Go to hit one where

one lives.

hit one’s stride Go to reach one’s stride.

hit one where one lives and hit one close

to home to affect one personally and in-

timately. (Informal.) Her comments

really hit me where I live. Her words

seemed to apply directly to me. I listened

carefully and didn’t think she hit close to

home at all.

hit-or-miss Go to hit-and-miss.

hit pay dirt to discover something of value.

(Slang. Refers to discovering valuable

ore.) Sally tried a number of different

jobs until she hit pay dirt. I tried to bor-

row money from a lot of different people.

They all said no. Then when I went to the

bank, I hit pay dirt.

hit (someone) below the belt to do some-

thing unfair or unsporting to someone.

(Informal. From boxing, where a blow

below the belt line is not permitted.)

You really hit me below the belt when you

told the boss about my tax problems. In

business Bill is difficult to deal with. He

hits below the belt.

hit (someone) like a ton of bricks to sur-

prise, startle, or shock someone. (Also lit-

eral. Informal.) Suddenly, the truth hit

me like a ton of bricks. The sudden tax

increase hit like a ton of bricks. Everyone

became angry.

hit someone (right) between the eyes to

become completely apparent; to surprise

or impress someone. (Also literal. Infor-

mal.) Suddenly, it hit me right between

the eyes. John and Mary were in love.

Then—as he was talking—the exact na-

ture of the evil plan hit me between the

eyes.

hit someone up (for something) to ask some-

one for something. (Informal.) John hit

me up for a loan. T I told him to go hit

up someone else.

hit the books to begin to study; to study.

(Slang.) Well, time to hit the books.

John, if you don’t start hitting the books,

you’re going to fail.

hit the bottle to drink alcohol to excess.

(As if drinking directly from the bottle,

that is, taking a hit from the bottle.

Slang.) Fred goes home and hits the bot-

tle every night. Bill has been hitting the

bottle a lot lately. I think he has a problem.

hit the bricks to start walking; to go out

into the streets. (Slang.) If you want

to get a job, you had better get out there

and hit the bricks. I got fired today. The

boss came by and told me to hit the bricks.

hit the bull’s-eye to achieve a goal per-

fectly. (Refers to hitting the center of a

circular target. Informal.) Your idea

really hit the bull’s-eye. Thank you! Jill

has a lot of insight. She knows how to hit

the bull’s-eye in discussions.

hit the ceiling to become very angry. (Also

literal. Informal.) My father hit the ceil-

ing when I damaged the car. Our em-

ployer hit the ceiling when we lost an im-

portant contract.

hit the high spots to do only the impor-

tant, obvious, or good things. (Informal.)

I won’t discuss the entire report. I’ll just

hit the high spots. First, let me hit the

high spots; then I’ll tell you about

everything.

hit the jackpot 1. to win at gambling.

(Refers to the “jack” in playing cards.)

Bob hit the jackpot three times in one

night. I’ve never hit the jackpot even

once. 2. to have a success. I hit the jack-

pot on a business deal. I really hit the

jackpot in the library. I found just what I

needed.

hit the nail (right) on the head to do ex-

actly the right thing; to do something in

the most effective and efficient way; to

identify the exact nature of something.

(Also literal.) You’ve spotted the f law,

Sally. You hit the nail on the head. Bob

doesn’t say much, but every now and then

he hits the nail right on the head.

hit the road to depart; to begin one’s jour-

ney, especially on a road trip; to leave for

home. It’s time to hit the road. I’ll see

you. We have to hit the road very early

in the morning.

hit the sack Go to hit the hay.

hit the skids to decline; to decrease in

value. (Slang.) Business usually hits the

skids in the summer. Tom hit the skids

after he lost his job.

hit the spot to be exactly right; to be re-

freshing. (Informal.) This cool drink

really hits the spot. That was a delicious

meal, dear. It hit the spot.

hit (up)on something to discover or think up

something. (Informal.) Ann hit on the

idea of baking lots of bread and freezing it.

John hit upon a new way of planting

corn.