Head vs. Point — What's the Difference?

The head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste, respectively. Some very simple animals may not have a head, but many bilaterally symmetric forms do, regardless of size.

A sharp or tapered end

The upper part of the human body, or the front or upper part of the body of an animal, typically separated from the rest of the body by a neck, and containing the brain, mouth, and sense organs.

An object having a sharp or tapered end

A thing resembling a head either in form or in relation to a whole.

A tapering extension of land projecting into water; a peninsula, cape, or promontory.

The front, forward, or upper part or end of something.

A mark formed by or as if by a sharp end.

A person in charge of something; a director or leader

A mark or dot used in printing or writing for punctuation, especially a period.

A person considered as a numerical unit

A decimal point.

A component in an audio, video, or information system by which information is transferred from an electrical signal to the recording medium, or vice versa.

(Linguistics) A vowel point.

A body of water kept at a particular height in order to provide a supply at sufficient pressure

One of the protruding marks used in certain methods of writing and printing for the blind.

A toilet on a ship or boat

A dimensionless geometric object having no properties except location.

The word that governs all the other words in a phrase in which it is used, having the same grammatical function as the whole phrase.

An element in a geometrically described set.

A superficial deposit of rock fragments, formed at the edge of an ice sheet by repeated freezing and thawing and then moved downhill.

A place or locality considered with regard to its position

A group of pheasants

A narrowly particularized and localized position or place; a spot

Chief; principal

A specified degree, condition, or limit, as in a scale or course

Be in the leading position on

Any of the 32 equal divisions marked at the circumference of a mariner's compass card that indicate direction.

Give a title or caption to

The interval of 11°15′ between any two adjacent markings.

Move in a specified direction

A distinct condition or degree

Shoot or pass (the ball) with the head

The interval of time immediately before a given occurrence; the verge

Lop off the upper part or branches of (a plant or tree)

A specific moment in time

(of a lettuce or cabbage) form a head.

An objective or purpose to be reached or achieved, or one that is worth reaching or achieving

The uppermost or forwardmost part of the body of a vertebrate, containing the brain and the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and jaws.

The major idea or essential part of a concept or narrative

The analogous part of an invertebrate organism.

A significant, outstanding, or effective idea, argument, or suggestion

The length or height of such a part

A separate, distinguishing item or element; a detail

The seat of the faculty of reason; intelligence, intellect, or mind

A quality or characteristic that is important or distinctive, especially a standard characteristic used to judge an animal.

Mental ability or aptitude

A single unit, as in counting, rating, or measuring.

Freedom of choice or action

A unit of academic credit usually equal to one hour of class work per week during one semester.

A habitual drug user. Often used in combination

A numerical unit of academic achievement equal to a letter grade.

An enthusiast. Often used in combination

Sports & Games A unit of scoring or counting.

A person considered foolish or contemptible. Often used in combination

A unit equal to one dollar, used to quote or state variations in the current prices of stocks or commodities.

A portrait or representation of a person's head.

A unit equal to one percent, used to quote or state interest rates or shares in gross profits.

Often heads (used with a sing. verb) The side of a coin having the principal design, often the profile of a political leader's head.

One percent of the total principal of a loan, paid up front to the lender and considered separately from the interest.

(Informal) A headache

(Music) A phrase, such as a fugue subject, in contrapuntal music.

An individual; a person

(Printing) A unit of type size equal to 0.01384 inch, or approximately 1/72 of an inch.

Pl. head A single animal

A jeweler's unit of weight equal to 2 milligrams or 0.01 carat.

A person who leads, rules, or is in charge; a leader, chief, or director

The act or an instance of pointing.

A headmaster or headmistress.

The stiff and attentive stance taken by a hunting dog.

The foremost or leading position

A reconnaissance or patrol unit that moves ahead of an advance party or guard, or that follows a rear guard.

A headwaiter.

The position occupied by such a unit or guard

The difference in depth of a liquid at two given points.

Either of two positions in ice hockey just inside the offensive zone near the boards, usually assumed by defenders attempting to keep the puck in the offensive zone.

The measure of pressure at the lower point expressed in terms of this difference.

(Basketball) A position in the forecourt beyond the top of the key, usually taken by the point guard.

The pressure exerted by a liquid or gas

In women's lacrosse, a defensive player who marks the opponent playing nearest to the goal (the first home).

The liquid or gas exerting the pressure.

An electrical contact, especially one in the distributor of an automobile engine.

The froth or foam that rises to the top in pouring an effervescent liquid, such as beer.

Chiefly British An electrical socket or outlet.

The tip of an abscess, boil, or pimple, in which pus forms.

Points The extremities of an animal, such as a cat or horse, especially when they differ in color from the rest of the coat.

A turning point; a crisis

A movable rail, tapered at the end, such as that used in a railroad switch.

A projection, weight, or fixture at the end of an elongated object

The vertex of the angle created by the intersection of rails in a frog or switch.

The working end of a tool or implement

A ribbon or cord with a metal tag at the end, used to fasten clothing in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The looped part at the end a lacrosse stick, to which the webbing is attached.

To direct or aim

The part of an explosive device that carries the explosive; a warhead.

To bring (something) to notice

The part of a stringed instrument where the strings are wound; a tuning head.

To indicate the position or direction of

A tuning machine.

To sharpen (a pencil, for example); provide with a point.

The rounded proximal end of a long bone

To separate with decimal points

The end of a muscle that is attached to the less movable part of the skeleton.

To mark (text) with points; punctuate.

An attachment to or part of a machine that holds or contains the operative device.

(Linguistics) To mark (a consonant) with a vowel point.

The magnetic head of a tape recorder or VCR.

To give emphasis to; stress

The device in a magnetic disk or tape drive that enables it to read data from and write data to the disk or tape.

To indicate the presence and position of (game) by standing immobile and directing the muzzle toward it. Used of a hunting dog.

A rounded compact mass, as of leaves or buds

To fill and finish the joints of (masonry) with cement or mortar.

(Botany) A flower head.

To direct attention or indicate position with or as if with the finger.

The uppermost part; the top

To turn the mind or thought in a particular direction or to a particular conclusion

The end considered the most important

To be turned or faced in a given direction; aim.

Either end of an object, such as a drum, whose two ends are interchangeable.

To indicate the presence and position of game. Used of a hunting dog.

The forward part of a vessel.

(Nautical) To sail close to the wind.

The top part or upper edge of a sail.

A discrete division of something.

A toilet, especially on a ship.

An individual element in a larger whole; a particular detail, thought, or quality.

A passage or gallery in a coal mine.

A particular moment in an event or occurrence; a juncture.

The top of a book or page.

(archaic) Condition, state.

A headline or heading.

A topic of discussion or debate; a proposition.

A distinct topic or category

A focus of conversation or consideration; the main idea.

Headway; progress.

A purpose or objective, which makes something meaningful.

(Linguistics) The word determining the grammatical category of a constituent, often establishing relations of concord or agreement (such as subject-verb agreement) with other constituents.

(obsolete) The smallest quantity of something; a jot, a whit.

Vulgar Slang Oral sex.

(obsolete) A tiny amount of time; a moment.

Of, relating to, or intended for the head. Often used in combination

A specific location or place, seen as a spatial position.

Foremost in rank or importance

A zero-dimensional mathematical object representing a location in one or more dimensions; something considered to have position but no magnitude or direction. Category:en:Shapes

Placed at the top or the front

A full stop or other terminal punctuation mark.

(Slang) Of, relating to, or for drugs or drug users.

(music) A dot or mark used to designate certain tones or time. In ancient music, it distinguished or characterized certain tones or styles (points of perfection, of augmentation, etc.). In modern music, it is placed on the right of a note to raise its value, or prolong its time, by one half.

To be in charge of; lead

(by extension) A note; a tune.

To be in the first or foremost position of

A distinguishing quality or characteristic.

To aim, point, or turn in a certain direction

The chief or excellent features.

To remove the head or top of.

Something tiny, as a pinprick; a very small mark.

(Sports) To hit (a soccer ball) in the air with one's head.

(now only in phrases) A tenth; formerly also a twelfth.

To provide with a head

Each of the marks or strokes written above letters, especially in Semitic languages, to indicate vowels, stress etc.

To proceed or go in a certain direction

A unit of scoring in a game or competition.

To form a head, as lettuce or cabbage.

(mathematics) A decimal point (now especially when reading decimal fractions aloud).

To originate, as a stream or river; rise.

(economics) A unit used to express differences in prices of stocks and shares.

(countable) The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.

(typography) a unit of measure equal to 1/12 of a pica, or approximately 1/72 of an inch (exactly 1/72 of an inch in the digital era).

(people) To do with heads.

(UK) An electric power socket.

(animals) To do with heads.

A unit of bearing equal to one thirty-second of a circle, i.e. 11.25°.

(countable) The topmost, foremost, or leading part.

(UK) A unit of measure for rain, equal to 0.254 mm or 0.01 of an inch.

The end of a table.

Either of the two metal surfaces in a distributor which close or open to allow or prevent the flow of current through the ignition coil. There is usually a moving point, pushed by the distributor cam, and a fixed point, and they are built together as a unit.

(countable) The principal operative part of a machine or tool.

A sharp extremity.

The foam that forms on top of beer or other carbonated beverages.

The sharp tip of an object.

(engineering) The end cap of a cylindrically-shaped pressure vessel.

Any projecting extremity of an object.

(coopering) The end cap of a cask or other barrel.

An object which has a sharp or tapering tip.

(geology) The uppermost part of a valley.

(backgammon) Each of the twelve triangular positions in either table of a backgammon board, on which the stones are played.

Deposits near the top of a geological succession.

A peninsula or promontory.

(journalism) headline

The position at the front or vanguard of an advancing force.

(medicine) The end of an abscess where pus collects.

Each of the main directions on a compass, usually considered to be 32 in number; a direction.

(music) The headstock of a guitar.

(nautical) The difference between two points of the compass.

(nautical) A leading component.

Pointedness of speech or writing; a penetrating or decisive quality of expression.

(British) A headland.

A railroad switch.

A leader or expert.

An area of contrasting colour on an animal, especially a dog; a marking.

The place of honour, or of command; the most important or foremost position; the front.

A tine or snag of an antler.

(metonymy) Leader; chief; mastermind.

(fencing) A movement executed with the sabre or foil.

(metonymy) A headmaster or headmistress.

(heraldry) One of the several different parts of the escutcheon.

A person with an extensive knowledge of hip hop.

(nautical) A short piece of cordage used in reefing sails.

A significant or important part.

(historical) A string or lace used to tie together certain garments.

A beginning or end, a protuberance.

Lace worked by the needle.

A component.

An item of private information; a hint; a tip; a pointer.

Headway; progress.

The attitude assumed by a pointer dog when he finds game.

Topic; subject.

(falconry) The perpendicular rising of a hawk over the place where its prey has gone into cover.

Denouement; crisis.

The act of pointing, as of the foot downward in certain dance positions.

(fluid dynamics) Pressure and energy.

The gesture of extending the index finger in a direction in order to indicate something.

A buildup of fluid pressure, often quantified as pressure head.

A vaccine point.

The difference in elevation between two points in a column of fluid, and the resulting pressure of the fluid at the lower point.

In various sports, a position of a certain player, or, by extension, the player occupying that position.

More generally, energy in a mass of fluid divided by its weight.

(cricket) A fielding position square of the wicket on the off side, between gully and cover.

Fellatio or cunnilingus; oral sex.

The position of the player of each side who stands a short distance in front of the goalkeeper.

(slang) The glans penis.

(baseball) The position of the pitcher and catcher.

A heavy or habitual user of illicit drugs.

(hunting) A spot to which a straight run is made; hence, a straight run from point to point; a cross-country run.

(obsolete) Power; armed force.

(intransitive) To extend the index finger in the direction of something in order to show where it is or to draw attention to it.

Of, relating to, or intended for the head.

(intransitive) To draw attention to something or indicate a direction.

Foremost in rank or importance.

(intransitive) To face in a particular direction.

Placed at the top or the front.

To direct toward an object; to aim.

Coming from in front.

To give a point to; to sharpen; to cut, forge, grind, or file to an acute end.

(transitive) To be in command of. (See also head up.)

(intransitive) To indicate a probability of something.

(transitive) To come at the beginning or front of; to commence.

To repair mortar.

(transitive) To strike with the head; as in soccer, to head the ball

To fill up and finish the joints of (a wall), by introducing additional cement or mortar, and bringing it to a smooth surface.

(intransitive) To move in a specified direction.

(stone-cutting) To cut, as a surface, with a pointed tool.

(fishing) To remove the head from a fish.

(transitive) To direct or encourage (someone) in a particular direction.

(intransitive) To originate; to spring; to have its course, as a river.

To separate an integer from a decimal with a decimal point.

(intransitive) To form a head.

(transitive) To mark with diacritics.

(transitive) To form a head to; to fit or furnish with a head.

(dated) To supply with punctuation marks; to punctuate.

(transitive) To cut off the top of; to lop off.

To direct the central processing unit to seek information at a certain location in memory.

To behead; to decapitate.

To direct requests sent to a domain name to the IP address corresponding to that domain name.

To go in front of.

To sail close to the wind.

To get in the front of, so as to hinder or stop; to oppose.

To indicate the presence of game by a fixed and steady look, as certain hunting dogs do.

(by extension) To check or restrain.

To approximate to the surface; to head.

To set on the head.

(dated) To give point to (something said or done); to give particular prominence or force to.

The anterior or superior part of an animal, containing the brain, or chief ganglia of the nervous system, the mouth, and in the higher animals, the chief sensory organs; poll; cephalon.

(obsolete) To appoint.

The uppermost, foremost, or most important part of an inanimate object; such a part as may be considered to resemble the head of an animal; often, also, the larger, thicker, or heavier part or extremity, in distinction from the smaller or thinner part, or from the point or edge; as, the head of a cane, a nail, a spear, an ax, a mast, a sail, a ship; that which covers and closes the top or the end of a hollow vessel; as, the head of a cask or a steam boiler.

To appoint.

The place where the head should go; as, the head of a bed, of a grave, etc.; the head of a carriage, that is, the hood which covers the head.

To give a point to; to sharpen; to cut, forge, grind, or file to an acute end; as, to point a dart, or a pencil. Used also figuratively; as, to point a moral.

The most prominent or important member of any organized body; the chief; the leader; as, the head of a college, a school, a church, a state, and the like.

To direct toward an abject; to aim; as, to point a gun at a wolf, or a cannon at a fort.

The place or honor, or of command; the most important or foremost position; the front; as, the head of the table; the head of a column of soldiers.

Hence, to direct the attention or notice of.

Each one among many; an individual; - often used in a plural sense; as, a thousand head of cattle.

To supply with punctuation marks; to punctuate; as, to point a composition.

The seat of the intellect; the brain; the understanding; the mental faculties; as, a good head, that is, a good mind; it never entered his head, it did not occur to him; of his own head, of his own thought or will.

To mark (a text, as in Arabic or Hebrew) with vowel points; - also called vocalize.

The source, fountain, spring, or beginning, as of a stream or river; as, the head of the Nile; hence, the altitude of the source, or the height of the surface, as of water, above a given place, as above an orifice at which it issues, and the pressure resulting from the height or from motion; sometimes also, the quantity in reserve; as, a mill or reservoir has a good head of water, or ten feet head; also, that part of a gulf or bay most remote from the outlet or the sea.

To give particular prominence to; to designate in a special manner; to indicate, as if by pointing; as, the error was pointed out.

A headland; a promontory; as, Gay Head.

To indicate or discover by a fixed look, as game.

A separate part, or topic, of a discourse; a theme to be expanded; a subdivision; as, the heads of a sermon.

To fill up and finish the joints of (a wall), by introducing additional cement or mortar, and bringing it to a smooth surface.

Culminating point or crisis; hence, strength; force; height.

To cut, as a surface, with a pointed tool.

Power; armed force.

To direct the point of something, as of a finger, for the purpose of designating an object, and attracting attention to it; - with at.

A headdress; a covering of the head; as, a laced head; a head of hair.

To indicate the presence of game by fixed and steady look, as certain hunting dogs do.

An ear of wheat, barley, or of one of the other small cereals.

To approximate to the surface; to head; - said of an abscess.

A dense cluster of flowers, as in clover, daisies, thistles; a capitulum.

That which pricks or pierces; the sharp end of anything, esp. the sharp end of a piercing instrument, as a needle or a pin.

The antlers of a deer.

An instrument which pricks or pierces, as a sort of needle used by engravers, etchers, lace workers, and others; also, a pointed cutting tool, as a stone cutter's point; - called also pointer.

A rounded mass of foam which rises on a pot of beer or other effervescing liquor.

Anything which tapers to a sharp, well-defined termination. Specifically: A small promontory or cape; a tract of land extending into the water beyond the common shore line.

Tiles laid at the eaves of a house.

The mark made by the end of a sharp, piercing instrument, as a needle; a prick.

Principal; chief; leading; first; as, the head master of a school; the head man of a tribe; a head chorister; a head cook.

An indefinitely small space; a mere spot indicated or supposed. Specifically: (Geom.) That which has neither parts nor magnitude; that which has position, but has neither length, breadth, nor thickness, - sometimes conceived of as the limit of a line; that by the motion of which a line is conceived to be produced.

To be at the head of; to put one's self at the head of; to lead; to direct; to act as leader to; as, to head an army, an expedition, or a riot.

An indivisible portion of time; a moment; an instant; hence, the verge.

To form a head to; to fit or furnish with a head; as, to head a nail.

A mark of punctuation; a character used to mark the divisions of a composition, or the pauses to be observed in reading, or to point off groups of figures, etc.; a stop, as a comma, a semicolon, and esp. a period; hence, figuratively, an end, or conclusion.

To behead; to decapitate.

Whatever serves to mark progress, rank, or relative position, or to indicate a transition from one state or position to another, degree; step; stage; hence, position or condition attained; as, a point of elevation, or of depression; the stock fell off five points; he won by tenpoints.

To cut off the top of; to lop off; as, to head trees.

That which arrests attention, or indicates qualities or character; a salient feature; a characteristic; a peculiarity; hence, a particular; an item; a detail; as, the good or bad points of a man, a horse, a book, a story, etc.

To go in front of; to get in the front of, so as to hinder or stop; to oppose; hence, to check or restrain; as, to head a drove of cattle; to head a person; the wind heads a ship.

Hence, the most prominent or important feature, as of an argument, discourse, etc.; the essential matter; esp., the proposition to be established; as, the point of an anecdote.

To set on the head; as, to head a cask.

A small matter; a trifle; a least consideration; a punctilio.

To originate; to spring; to have its source, as a river.

A dot or mark used to designate certain tones or time

To go or point in a certain direction; to tend; as, how does the ship head?

A fixed conventional place for reference, or zero of reckoning, in the heavens, usually the intersection of two or more great circles of the sphere, and named specifically in each case according to the position intended; as, the equinoctial points; the solstitial points; the nodal points; vertical points, etc. See Equinoctial Nodal.

To form a head; as, this kind of cabbage heads early.

One of the several different parts of the escutcheon. See Escutcheon.

The upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains;

One of the points of the compass (see Points of the compass, below); also, the difference between two points of the compass; as, to fall off a point.

A single domestic animal;

A a string or lace used to tie together certain parts of the dress.

That which is responsible for one's thoughts and feelings; the seat of the faculty of reason;

Lace wrought the needle; as, point de Venise; Brussels point. See Point lace, below.

A person who is in charge;

A switch.

The front of a military formation or procession;

An item of private information; a hint; a tip; a pointer.

The pressure exerted by a fluid;

A fielder who is stationed on the off side, about twelve or fifteen yards from, and a little in advance of, the batsman.

The top of something;

The attitude assumed by a pointer dog when he finds game; as, the dog came to a point. See Pointer.

The source of water from which a stream arises;

A standard unit of measure for the size of type bodies, being one twelfth of the thickness of pica type. See Point system of type, under Type.

(grammar) the word in a grammatical constituent that plays the same grammatical role as the whole constituent

A tyne or snag of an antler.

The tip of an abscess (where the pus accumulates)

One of the spaces on a backgammon board.

The length or height based on the size of a human or animal head;

A movement executed with the saber or foil; as, tierce point.

A dense clusters of flowers or foliage;

A pointed piece of quill or bone covered at one end with vaccine matter; - called also vaccine point.

The educator who has executive authority for a school;

One of the raised dots used in certain systems of printing and writing for the blind. The first practical system was that devised by Louis Braille in 1829, and still used in Europe (see Braille). Two modifications of this are current in the United States: New York point founded on three bases of equidistant points arranged in two lines (viz., : :: :::), and a later improvement, American Braille, embodying the Braille base (:::) and the New-York-point principle of using the characters of few points for the commonest letters.

An individual person;

In various games, a position of a certain player, or, by extension, the player himself;

A user of (usually soft) drugs;

A geometric element that has position but no extension;

A rounded compact mass;

The precise location of something; a spatially limited location;

The foam or froth that accumulates at the top when you pour an effervescent liquid into a container;

A brief version of the essential meaning of something;

The part in the front or nearest the viewer;

A specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process;

A difficult juncture;

An isolated fact that is considered separately from the whole;

Forward movement;

An instant of time;

A V-shaped mark at one end of an arrow pointer;

The object of an activity;

The subject matter at issue;

A V shape;

A line of text serving to indicate what the passage below it is about;

A very small circular shape;

The rounded end of a bone that bits into a rounded cavity in another bone to form a joint;

The unit of counting in scoring a game or contest;

That part of a skeletal muscle that is away from the bone that it moves

A promontory extending out into a large body of water;

(computer science) a tiny electromagnetic coil and metal pole used to write and read magnetic patterns on a disk

A distinct part that can be specified separately in a group of things that could be enumerated on a list;

(usually plural) an obverse side of a coin that bears the representation of a person's head;

A style in speech or writing that arrests attention and has a penetrating or convincing quality or effect

The striking part of a tool;

An outstanding characteristic;

(nautical) a toilet on board a boat or ship

Sharp end;

A projection out from one end;

Any of 32 horizontal directions indicated on the card of a compass;

A membrane that is stretched taut over a drum

A linear unit used to measure the size of type; approximately 1/72 inch

Oral-genital stimulation;

A punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after abbreviations;

To go or travel towards;

A V-shaped mark at one end of an arrow pointer;

Be in charge of;

The property of a shape that tapers to a sharp point

Travel in front of; go in advance of others;

A distinguishing or individuating characteristic;

Be the first or leading member of (a group) and excel;

The gun muzzle's direction;

Direct the course; determine the direction of travelling

A wall socket

Take its rise;

A contact in the distributor; as the rotor turns its projecting arm contacts distributor points and current flows to the spark plugs

Be in the front of or on top of;

Indicate a place, direction, person, or thing; either spatially or figuratively;

Form a head or come or grow to a head;

Be oriented;

Remove the head of;

Direct into a position for use;

Direct the course; determine the direction of travelling

Be a signal for or a symptom of;

Sail close to the wind

Mark (Hebrew words) with diacritics

Mark with diacritics;

Mark (a psalm text) to indicate the points at which the music changes

Be positionable in a specified manner;

Intend (something) to move towards a certain goal;

Give a point to;

Repair the joints of bricks;