1. A word placed at the beginning of a line or paragraph (as in a dictionary entry)
   "Each headword in the dictionary was printed in bold"
    
2. A content word that can be qualified by a modifier
   "In the phrase 'very tall building', 'building' is the headword";
   - head word

1. (grammar) the word in a grammatical constituent that plays the same grammatical role as the whole constituent
   "In the phrase 'red car', 'car' is the head word";
   - head

Derived forms: headwords, head words

Type of: content word, open-class word, word

Part of: dictionary entry, lexical entry, phrase

Encyclopedia: Headword