headlessadj.

Brit.

/ˈhɛdləs/, U.S.

/ˈhɛdləs/

Forms: see head n.¹ and -less suffix.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian hāvedlās without a leader, Middle Dutch hoofdeloos without a head (Dutch hoofdeloos without a head, without a leader), Middle Low German hȫvetlōs , Old High German houbitolōs , houbitlōs (Middle High German houbetlōs , German †hauptlos ), Old Icelandic hǫfuðlauss , Old Swedish hovudhlös (Swedish huvudlös ), Old Danish hofwetløs (Danish hovedløs ), all in senses ‘without a head’, ‘without a leader’ < the Germanic base of head n.¹ + the Germanic base of -less suffix.

a. Of a person, animal, etc.: having no head; decapitated, beheaded.to hop headless: see hop v.¹ Phrases 1.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > [adjective] > without

headlessOE

acephalous1731

acephalic1816

the world > life > death > killing > killing by specific method > [adjective] > beheaded

headlessOE

decollatec1470

OE Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 99 Truncus, heafodleas bodig.

lOE Ælfric Old Test. Summary: Judith (Corpus Cambr.) in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 113 Se [burþegn] afunde his hlaford licgan heafodleasne.

c1330 Seven Sages (Auch.) (1933) l. 1199 Þe heuedles bodi..Was idrawe þourgh eueri strete.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. xlviii. 1199 Ciclopes..haþ but oon yhe... And some beþ al hedles [L. capite carent] and nekeles [MS noseles] and he[re] yhen beþ in þe schuldres.

a1425 (c1333–52) L. Minot Poems (1914) 9 Sum ligges ȝit in þat mire All heuidles, with owten hire.

1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xiv. 331 Hym that never shall come agayn, but he be hedles.

1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. iii. sig. C5^v The headlesse tronke, as heedlesse of that stower, Stood still a while.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) i. ii. 65 I would remoue these tedious stumbling blockes, And smooth my way vpon their headlesse neckes.

1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre iv. xvi. 196 Mangled, headlesse, handlesse, feetlesse corpses.

1736 H. Walpole Let. 20 May in Corr. with George Montagu (1837) I. 7 Headless carcases and carcaseless heads.

1783 J. Hoole tr. L. Ariosto Orlando Furioso V. xlii. 58 The headless trunk of Agramant.

1862 D. Wilson Prehistoric Man II. xix. 126 Headless figures are the symbols of the dead.

1883 Tinsley's Mag. Apr. 399/2 The apparition of a headless pig is occasionally seen in the parish.

1914 T. E. Lawrence Let. 6 Feb. (1938) 165 We are digging up well preserved Amorites who were buried naked and headless.

1988 K. Wallingford R. Lowell's Lang. of Self i. 45 The figures in the photograph are headless.

2004 New Yorker 10 May 56/1 The headless body of his wife..had been fished out of the Merrimack River.

b. Of an object, as an arrow, nail, cask, etc.: having no head; lacking or having lost the top part.

ΚΠ

Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 53 Brode hedlese nayle, clavus acephalus.

tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) i. l. 881 Brenne heer and ther the heedles garlek stelis.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid vi. xiii. 12 That lenys him apon his heidless speir.

?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xvi. 109 Ajax seeing..that he shook a headless spear, a little while unware.

1693 C. Mather Wonders Invisible World 113 Several Poppets..with Headless Pins in them, the points being outward.

1748 L. Pilkington Mem. III. 151 The Doctor..found a small Sprig, or headless Nail sticking in the Temple.

1792 E. Hargrove Anecd. Archery 42 Thomas Lord Clifford,..was, three months after, killed at this battle, by a headless arrow.

1869 Horticulturalist Feb. 49/1 You can hoop a headless barrel over the plant.

1884 Instr. Mil. Engin. (ed. 3) I. ii. 86 Each cylinder is made of gabions or headless casks, placed end to end, and lashed together.

1921 Automotive Industries 15 Dec. 1176/1 Six ⁵/ ₈-in. headless iron rods are set in place.

1971 B. Scharf Engin. & its Lang. xi. 97 Studs..are very useful headless fastening devices.

2002 Backwoods Home Mag. July 22/1 Hammer headless nails into the plywood.

c. Zoology. Of an invertebrate, such as a bivalve mollusc: lacking a differentiated head; = acephalous adj. 2a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > animal body > general parts > head and neck > [adjective] > having no head

acephalous1728

headless1806

1806 Med. Repository 2nd Hexade 4 161 The Mollusca class is divided into five orders..4. Headless, or their heads confounded with the bodies, comprehending the bivalve-shelled animals.

1880 H. C. Bastian Brain vii. 107 Sedentary animals, though they may possess a Nervous System, are often headless.

1904 School & Home Educ. Oct. 81/1 Some of the acephals or headless mollusks bore into solid rock and there make burrows in which to live.

2009 M. Calver et al. Environmental Biol. xiv. 326 Bivalves are headless suspension feeders, collecting small food particles using their gills.

a. Christian Church. Having or recognizing no superior ecclesiastical authority. Chiefly with reference to the Acephali (acephali n. 1b). Now rare.

ΚΠ

OE tr. Chrodegang of Metz Regula Canonicorum (Corpus Cambr. 191) lxiii. 303 Twa cynrynu preosta synt: an is mynsterlicra, þe under bisceopes gymene wuniað; oðer is acephalorum, þæt is heafodleas [L. sine capite]; nyton hwæm hi folgiað.

1565 T. Stapleton Fortresse of Faith f. 93^v Headles heretikes bicause they were vnder no bishops.

1653 A. Ross Πανσεβεια vii. 210 From the Eutychians sprung up the Acephali, or headless hereticks, so called because they had neither Bishop, Priest, nor Sacrament amongst them.

1674 T. Good Firmianus & Dubitantius 106 I do not now so much wonder how England.., since this headless faction prevaild amongst us, became a second Amsterdam.

1722 J. Bingham Origines Ecclesiasticæ X. sig. B2^v The Acephali had no Bishops, or were named Headless, from the Want of such Heads among them.

1855 H. H. Milman Hist. Lat. Christianity VI. xiii. ix. 185 Pope John..would..appeal to Christendom against the decrees of a headless Council.

1893 A. West Hist. Methodism Alabama xvii. 412 The Schismatics..instituted a headless Church..responsible to the irresponsible masses, an associated anarchy.

2010 P. Jenkins Jesus Wars viii. 239 Extreme Monophysites who deserted the Coptic patriarchs became the anarchistic acephali, the ‘headless ones’.

b. More generally: lacking or having lost a ruler or chief; leaderless.

ΚΠ

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 441 (MED) Þe kyng was i-meved to helpe þe chirche þat so was hevedles and wedwe.

?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. l. 6518 A lond heuedles [a1450 Lamb. hedles] in time of nede.

a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) iii. xxvi. sig. U.vii Nowe to this great glory can there no man come headlesse. Our head is Christ.

1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres ii. 28 Not to send them out like headlesse men.

1653 R. Filmer Patriarcha (1680) ii. §17. 73 It will lye in the hands of the headless Multitude.

1681 R. Howard Life & Reign Richard II 22 A Thousand armed men.., at whose approach (being now headless, and all in confusion) they were so terrifi'd, that they forthwith flung down what Arms they had.

1729 T. Innes Crit. Ess. Anc. Inhabitants Scotl. I. p. xxviii The confusions of a divided and headless nation.

1767 W. L. Lewis tr. Statius Thebaid I. v. 214 The headless Herd in stragg'ling Parties roves.

1867 Pall Mall Gaz. 31 Aug. 4/1 The Abyssinian war has come on the departments in a headless state.

1891 R. F. Horton Hist. Rom. xxvi. 231 A..series of events robbed the Marians of their leaders and left them, headless as it were, to be scattered by the victorious might of Sulla.

1918 C. H. Grasty Flashes from Front xiii. 225 The losses were terrible; her own house had been left headless.

2001 Daily Tel. 12 Jan. 10/7 Covent Garden, headless since Christmas, will be run in the meantime by John Seekings.

3. Brainless, foolish; senseless, stupid. In later use chiefly in collocation with heartless, and somewhat rare.

a. Of a person or group of people.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupidity, dullness of intellect > [adjective]

sloweOE

stuntc960

dullOE

hardOE

stuntlyc1000

sotc1050

dillc1175

dulta1225

simplea1325

heavy1340

astonedc1374

sheepishc1380

dull-witteda1387

lourd1390

steerishc1411

ass-likea1425

brainless?a1439

deafc1440

sluggishc1450

short-witted1477

obtuse1509

peakish1519

wearish1519

deaf, or dumb as a beetle1520

doileda1522

gross1526

headlessa1530

stulty1532

ass-headed1533

pot-headed1533

stupid?1541

sheep's head1542

doltish1543

dumpish1545

assish1548

blockish1548

slow-witted1548

blockheaded1549

surd1551

dull-headed1552

hammer-headed1552

skit-brained?1553

buzzardly1561

witless1562

log-headeda1566

assy1566

sottish1566

dastardly1567

stupidious1567

beetle-headed1570

calvish1570

bluntish1578

cod's-headed1578

grout-headed1578

bedaft1579

dull-pated1580

blate1581

buzzard-like1581

long-eared1582

dullard1583

woodena1586

duncical1588

leaden-headed1589

buzzard1592

dorbellical1592

dunstical1592

heavy-headeda1593

shallow-brained1592

blunt-witted1594

mossy1597

Bœotian1598

clay-brained1598

fat1598

fat-witted1598

knotty-pated1598

stupidous1598

wit-lost1599

barren1600

duncifiedc1600

lourdish1600

stockish1600

thick1600

booby1603

leaden-pated1603

partless1603

thin-headed1603

leaden-skulledc1604

blockhead1606

frost-brained1606

ram-headed1608

beef-witted1609

insulse1609

leaden-spirited1609

asininec1610

clumse1611

blockheadly1612

wattle-headed1613

flata1616

logger-headeda1616

puppy-headeda1616

shallow-patedc1616

thick-brained1619

half-headed1621

buzzard-blinda1625

beef-brained1628

toom-headed1629

thick-witted1634

woollen-witted1635

squirrel-headed1637

clod-pated1639

lean-souled1639

muddy-headed1642

leaden-witteda1645

as sad as any mallet1645

under-headed1646

fat-headed1647

half-witted1647

insipid1651

insulsate1652

soft-headed1653

thick-skulleda1657

muddish1658

non-intelligent1659

whey-brained1660

sap-headed1665

timber-headed1666

leather-headeda1668

out of (one's) tree1669

boobily1673

thoughtless1673

lourdly1674

logger1675

unintelligenta1676

Bœotic1678

chicken-brained1678

under-witted1683

loggerhead1684

dunderheaded1692

unintelligible1694

buffle-headed1697

crassicc1700

numbskulled1707

crassous1708

doddy-polled1708

haggis-headed1715

niddy-noddy1722

muzzy1723

pudding-headed1726

sumphish1728

pitcher-souleda1739

duncey1743

hebete1743

chuckheaded1756

dumb1756

duncely1757

imbecile1766

mutton-headed1768

chuckle-headed1770

jobbernowl1770

dowfarta1774

boobyish1778

wittol1780

staumrel1787

opaquec1789

stoopid1791

mud-headed1793

borné1795

muzzy-headed1798

nog-headed1800

thick-headed1801

gypit1804

duncish1805

lightweight1809

numbskull1814

tup-headed1816

chuckle-pate1820

unintellectuala1821

dense1822

ninnyish1822

dunch1825

fozy1825

potato-headed1826

beef-headed1828

donkeyish1831

blockheadish1833

pinheaded1837

squirrel-minded1837

pumpkin-headed1838

tomfoolish1838

dundering1840

chicken-headed1842

like a bump on a log1842

ninny-minded1849

numbheadeda1852

nincompoopish1852

suet-brained1852

dolly1853

mullet-headed1853

sodden1853

fiddle-headed1854

numb1854

bovine1855

logy1859

crass1861

unsmart1861

off his chump1864

wooden-headed1865

stupe1866

lean-minded1867

duffing1869

cretinous1871

doddering1871

thick-head1873

doddling1874

stupido1879

boneheaded1883

woolly-headed1883

leaden-natured1889

suet-headed1890

sam-sodden1891

dopey1896

turnip-headed1898

bonehead1903

wool-witted1905

peanut-headed1906

peanut-brained1907

dilly1909

torpid-minded1909

retardate1912

nitwitted1917

meat-headed1918

mug1922

cloth-headed1925

loopy1925

nitwit1928

lame-brained1929

dead from the neck up1930

simpy1932

nail-headed1936

square-headed1936

dingbats1937

pinhead1939

dim-witted1940

pea-brained1942

clueless1943

lobotomized1943

retarded1949

pointy-headed1950

clottish1952

like a stunned mullet1953

silly (or crazy) as a two-bob watch1954

out to lunch1955

pin-brained1958

dozy1959

eejity1964

out of one's tiny mind1965

doofus1967

twitty1967

twittish1969

twatty1975

twattish1976

blur1977

dof1979

goofus1981

dickheaded1991

dickish1991

numpty1992

cockish1996

a1530 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfeccyon (1531) iii. f. CCxxv That the kyng of heuen wolde mary his onely eternall sone to a hedles woman.

1549 J. Cheke Hurt of Sedicion sig. C3 Nether..touched of hedles captains, nor holden of braynlesse rebels.

1648 J. Taylor Brown Dozen of Drunkards 8 Bacchus his headlesse, brainlesse, staggering and party-coloured Senate.

1757 Monthly Rev. Jan. 81 Such helpless, headless, heartless men.

1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 12 Sept. 4/2 A landowner, perfectly heartless and headless.

1999 P. Plagens Time for Robo 306 He became a heartless idiot. Now, confused and panicked, he's a headless idiot as well.

b. Of a thing, action, etc.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupidity, dullness of intellect > [adjective] > of actions, ideas, etc.

sloweOE

bluntc1175

simplea1425

headless1563

sottish1592

thick1600

stupid1609

incrassate1659

crass1660

simple-minded1774

bright1830

simplistic1844

noodly1870

unelectric1876

dinlo1907

clunky1965

1563 R. Reynolds Foundacion of Rhetorike f. xxxviii^v Their miseries will driue them to..hedlesse aduentures.

?1565 A. Hartwell tr. W. Haddon Sight of Portugall Pearle sig. Diiii You are neuer weried in darting out whole quiuers full of sleueles slaundering and hedlesse hatred.

1587 J. Hooker Chron. Ireland 86/1 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) II Their bare words or headlesse saiengs.

a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) i. ix. §2. 62 Headlesse Old-wiues Tales.

1647 Vindic. Army under Sir T. Fairfax (title page) A confused and headlesse peece, so surreptitiously crept forth.

1701 W. Paterson Proposals Council of Trade Introd. sig. **^v The main hazard..will be, of a Rash, Raw, Giddy and Headless Direction.

1837 Dublin Univ. Mag. May 603/1 Literature had not expanded into a wholesale manufacture of headless and heartless workhouse ware.

1842 G. Griffin Talis Qualis iv. 68 His precipitate and headless conduct.

2011 Kildare Nationalist (Nexis) 14 Sept. There was no reason not to believe they wouldn't get one last chance in injury time.., but their headless behaviour ended any hope of that.

Compounds

headless cross n. a cross without a head or top part; a T-shaped cross; = tau cross n. at tau n. Compounds 3.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > charge: device on shield > cross > [noun] > tau cross

tau cross1474

headless cross1483

cross commisse1688

tau1704

1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. cccvii/1 Thau is made lyke an hedeles Crosse.

1563 in Vicary's Anat. Bodie of Man (1888) App. iii. 163 There shalbe CC blew hedles Crosses made with all convenient spede.

1658 T. Pugh Brittish & Out-landish Prophesies 63 At the headless Cross besides Gloster shal many thousand be slain.

1853 H. W. Herbert Chevaliers of France 30 I can lead you to the great chestnut, and to the headless cross in the beech woods.

1998 R. Houlbrooke Death, Relig., & Family (2000) iii. 69 In 1550 a young single man..was found sitting on the cliff-top by a headless cross on Ascension Day reading the Word of God in English.

headless horse n. an apparition in the form of a horse with no head; cf. headless horseman n.

ΚΠ

1713 J. Gay Wife of Bath iii. i. 26 Many a dark Night have I seen the Headless Horse, and have had the Honour to Converse with the Queen of the Fairies.

1811 Weekly Visitor 11 May 5/2 He..was returning, by moonlight, petrified with fear and endeavouring to whistle away from remembrance the story of the Tall Woman in white, and her Headless Horse.

1903 Quiver 979/1 Among the dread superstitions of our forefathers, a headless horse..stopping before a door and striking it with his hoof, as a sure sign of coming death, was one of the weirdest.

2006 V. Khatri True Ghosts & Spooky Incidents 107 The horrible sight of a headless horse galloping across the moors near Calverley Hall in West Yorkshire has scared quite a number of people.

headless horseman n. an apparition or ghost in the form of a headless man riding a horse.

ΚΠ

1820 W. Irving Legend of Sleepy Hollow in Sketch Bk. II. iv. 98 The stories..turned upon the favourite spectre of Sleepy Hollow, the headless horseman who had been heard several times of late.

1866 M. Reid Headless Horseman Prol. 2 Heedless of the affrighted deer..the Headless Horseman rides on.

1906 E. Z. Elliott Old Schuylkill Tales 106 Sleepy Hollow was not the only locality that boasted of a headless horseman. Schuylkill County had one also, but there was no Washington Irving to immortalize him.

2000 Times 28 Oct. (Weekend section) 3/1 The Trust..is promoting its haunted houses for Hallowe'en with tales of headless horsemen,..and a ‘blue woman’ who shakes beds.

Derivatives

ˈheadlessness n. [perhaps compare earlier headlesshood n.] the state or condition of being headless (in various senses).

ΚΠ

1706 E. H. & L. M. Jonas & Joshua 26 Jos. The word Avery..being a Church without a Head or Bishop belonging to it. Jo. Or a Barn either: What a peice of Headlessness is this.

1829 Edinb. Lit. Jrnl. 11 Apr. 308/1 The phantom..looked steadfastly in all its awful headlessness at the unfortunate pair.

1876 L. Tollemache in Fortn. Rev. Jan. 112 This singular example of sanitary headlessness.

1905 Canad. Mag. Dec. 184/1 The headlessness and chaos of Russian affairs.

1993 Daily Mail (Nexis) 3 Apr. 7 Many a decapitated marble torso in many an Italian park owes its headlessness to the British souvenir-hunters of an earlier era.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	headless
释义	headlessadj. Brit. /ˈhɛdləs/, U.S. /ˈhɛdləs/ Forms: see head n.¹ and -less suffix. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian hāvedlās without a leader, Middle Dutch hoofdeloos without a head (Dutch hoofdeloos without a head, without a leader), Middle Low German hȫvetlōs , Old High German houbitolōs , houbitlōs (Middle High German houbetlōs , German †hauptlos ), Old Icelandic hǫfuðlauss , Old Swedish hovudhlös (Swedish huvudlös ), Old Danish hofwetløs (Danish hovedløs ), all in senses ‘without a head’, ‘without a leader’ < the Germanic base of head n.¹ + the Germanic base of -less suffix. 1. a. Of a person, animal, etc.: having no head; decapitated, beheaded.to hop headless: see hop v.¹ Phrases 1. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > [adjective] > without headlessOE acephalous1731 acephalic1816 the world > life > death > killing > killing by specific method > [adjective] > beheaded headlessOE decollatec1470 OE Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 99 Truncus, heafodleas bodig. lOE Ælfric Old Test. Summary: Judith (Corpus Cambr.) in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 113 Se [burþegn] afunde his hlaford licgan heafodleasne. c1330 Seven Sages (Auch.) (1933) l. 1199 Þe heuedles bodi..Was idrawe þourgh eueri strete. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. xlviii. 1199 Ciclopes..haþ but oon yhe... And some beþ al hedles [L. capite carent] and nekeles [MS noseles] and he[re] yhen beþ in þe schuldres. a1425 (c1333–52) L. Minot Poems (1914) 9 Sum ligges ȝit in þat mire All heuidles, with owten hire. 1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xiv. 331 Hym that never shall come agayn, but he be hedles. 1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. iii. sig. C5^v The headlesse tronke, as heedlesse of that stower, Stood still a while. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) i. ii. 65 I would remoue these tedious stumbling blockes, And smooth my way vpon their headlesse neckes. View more context for this quotation 1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre iv. xvi. 196 Mangled, headlesse, handlesse, feetlesse corpses. 1736 H. Walpole Let. 20 May in Corr. with George Montagu (1837) I. 7 Headless carcases and carcaseless heads. 1783 J. Hoole tr. L. Ariosto Orlando Furioso V. xlii. 58 The headless trunk of Agramant. 1862 D. Wilson Prehistoric Man II. xix. 126 Headless figures are the symbols of the dead. 1883 Tinsley's Mag. Apr. 399/2 The apparition of a headless pig is occasionally seen in the parish. 1914 T. E. Lawrence Let. 6 Feb. (1938) 165 We are digging up well preserved Amorites who were buried naked and headless. 1988 K. Wallingford R. Lowell's Lang. of Self i. 45 The figures in the photograph are headless. 2004 New Yorker 10 May 56/1 The headless body of his wife..had been fished out of the Merrimack River. b. Of an object, as an arrow, nail, cask, etc.: having no head; lacking or having lost the top part. ΚΠ Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 53 Brode hedlese nayle, clavus acephalus. tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) i. l. 881 Brenne heer and ther the heedles garlek stelis. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid vi. xiii. 12 That lenys him apon his heidless speir. ?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xvi. 109 Ajax seeing..that he shook a headless spear, a little while unware. 1693 C. Mather Wonders Invisible World 113 Several Poppets..with Headless Pins in them, the points being outward. 1748 L. Pilkington Mem. III. 151 The Doctor..found a small Sprig, or headless Nail sticking in the Temple. 1792 E. Hargrove Anecd. Archery 42 Thomas Lord Clifford,..was, three months after, killed at this battle, by a headless arrow. 1869 Horticulturalist Feb. 49/1 You can hoop a headless barrel over the plant. 1884 Instr. Mil. Engin. (ed. 3) I. ii. 86 Each cylinder is made of gabions or headless casks, placed end to end, and lashed together. 1921 Automotive Industries 15 Dec. 1176/1 Six ⁵/ ₈-in. headless iron rods are set in place. 1971 B. Scharf Engin. & its Lang. xi. 97 Studs..are very useful headless fastening devices. 2002 Backwoods Home Mag. July 22/1 Hammer headless nails into the plywood. c. Zoology. Of an invertebrate, such as a bivalve mollusc: lacking a differentiated head; = acephalous adj. 2a. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > animal body > general parts > head and neck > [adjective] > having no head acephalous1728 headless1806 1806 Med. Repository 2nd Hexade 4 161 The Mollusca class is divided into five orders..4. Headless, or their heads confounded with the bodies, comprehending the bivalve-shelled animals. 1880 H. C. Bastian Brain vii. 107 Sedentary animals, though they may possess a Nervous System, are often headless. 1904 School & Home Educ. Oct. 81/1 Some of the acephals or headless mollusks bore into solid rock and there make burrows in which to live. 2009 M. Calver et al. Environmental Biol. xiv. 326 Bivalves are headless suspension feeders, collecting small food particles using their gills. 2. a. Christian Church. Having or recognizing no superior ecclesiastical authority. Chiefly with reference to the Acephali (acephali n. 1b). Now rare. ΚΠ OE tr. Chrodegang of Metz Regula Canonicorum (Corpus Cambr. 191) lxiii. 303 Twa cynrynu preosta synt: an is mynsterlicra, þe under bisceopes gymene wuniað; oðer is acephalorum, þæt is heafodleas [L. sine capite]; nyton hwæm hi folgiað. 1565 T. Stapleton Fortresse of Faith f. 93^v Headles heretikes bicause they were vnder no bishops. 1653 A. Ross Πανσεβεια vii. 210 From the Eutychians sprung up the Acephali, or headless hereticks, so called because they had neither Bishop, Priest, nor Sacrament amongst them. 1674 T. Good Firmianus & Dubitantius 106 I do not now so much wonder how England.., since this headless faction prevaild amongst us, became a second Amsterdam. 1722 J. Bingham Origines Ecclesiasticæ X. sig. B2^v The Acephali had no Bishops, or were named Headless, from the Want of such Heads among them. 1855 H. H. Milman Hist. Lat. Christianity VI. xiii. ix. 185 Pope John..would..appeal to Christendom against the decrees of a headless Council. 1893 A. West Hist. Methodism Alabama xvii. 412 The Schismatics..instituted a headless Church..responsible to the irresponsible masses, an associated anarchy. 2010 P. Jenkins Jesus Wars viii. 239 Extreme Monophysites who deserted the Coptic patriarchs became the anarchistic acephali, the ‘headless ones’. b. More generally: lacking or having lost a ruler or chief; leaderless. ΚΠ a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 441 (MED) Þe kyng was i-meved to helpe þe chirche þat so was hevedles and wedwe. ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. l. 6518 A lond heuedles [a1450 Lamb. hedles] in time of nede. a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) iii. xxvi. sig. U.vii Nowe to this great glory can there no man come headlesse. Our head is Christ. 1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres ii. 28 Not to send them out like headlesse men. 1653 R. Filmer Patriarcha (1680) ii. §17. 73 It will lye in the hands of the headless Multitude. 1681 R. Howard Life & Reign Richard II 22 A Thousand armed men.., at whose approach (being now headless, and all in confusion) they were so terrifi'd, that they forthwith flung down what Arms they had. 1729 T. Innes Crit. Ess. Anc. Inhabitants Scotl. I. p. xxviii The confusions of a divided and headless nation. 1767 W. L. Lewis tr. Statius Thebaid I. v. 214 The headless Herd in stragg'ling Parties roves. 1867 Pall Mall Gaz. 31 Aug. 4/1 The Abyssinian war has come on the departments in a headless state. 1891 R. F. Horton Hist. Rom. xxvi. 231 A..series of events robbed the Marians of their leaders and left them, headless as it were, to be scattered by the victorious might of Sulla. 1918 C. H. Grasty Flashes from Front xiii. 225 The losses were terrible; her own house had been left headless. 2001 Daily Tel. 12 Jan. 10/7 Covent Garden, headless since Christmas, will be run in the meantime by John Seekings. 3. Brainless, foolish; senseless, stupid. In later use chiefly in collocation with heartless, and somewhat rare. a. Of a person or group of people. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupidity, dullness of intellect > [adjective] sloweOE stuntc960 dullOE hardOE stuntlyc1000 sotc1050 dillc1175 dulta1225 simplea1325 heavy1340 astonedc1374 sheepishc1380 dull-witteda1387 lourd1390 steerishc1411 ass-likea1425 brainless?a1439 deafc1440 sluggishc1450 short-witted1477 obtuse1509 peakish1519 wearish1519 deaf, or dumb as a beetle1520 doileda1522 gross1526 headlessa1530 stulty1532 ass-headed1533 pot-headed1533 stupid?1541 sheep's head1542 doltish1543 dumpish1545 assish1548 blockish1548 slow-witted1548 blockheaded1549 surd1551 dull-headed1552 hammer-headed1552 skit-brained?1553 buzzardly1561 witless1562 log-headeda1566 assy1566 sottish1566 dastardly1567 stupidious1567 beetle-headed1570 calvish1570 bluntish1578 cod's-headed1578 grout-headed1578 bedaft1579 dull-pated1580 blate1581 buzzard-like1581 long-eared1582 dullard1583 woodena1586 duncical1588 leaden-headed1589 buzzard1592 dorbellical1592 dunstical1592 heavy-headeda1593 shallow-brained1592 blunt-witted1594 mossy1597 Bœotian1598 clay-brained1598 fat1598 fat-witted1598 knotty-pated1598 stupidous1598 wit-lost1599 barren1600 duncifiedc1600 lourdish1600 stockish1600 thick1600 booby1603 leaden-pated1603 partless1603 thin-headed1603 leaden-skulledc1604 blockhead1606 frost-brained1606 ram-headed1608 beef-witted1609 insulse1609 leaden-spirited1609 asininec1610 clumse1611 blockheadly1612 wattle-headed1613 flata1616 logger-headeda1616 puppy-headeda1616 shallow-patedc1616 thick-brained1619 half-headed1621 buzzard-blinda1625 beef-brained1628 toom-headed1629 thick-witted1634 woollen-witted1635 squirrel-headed1637 clod-pated1639 lean-souled1639 muddy-headed1642 leaden-witteda1645 as sad as any mallet1645 under-headed1646 fat-headed1647 half-witted1647 insipid1651 insulsate1652 soft-headed1653 thick-skulleda1657 muddish1658 non-intelligent1659 whey-brained1660 sap-headed1665 timber-headed1666 leather-headeda1668 out of (one's) tree1669 boobily1673 thoughtless1673 lourdly1674 logger1675 unintelligenta1676 Bœotic1678 chicken-brained1678 under-witted1683 loggerhead1684 dunderheaded1692 unintelligible1694 buffle-headed1697 crassicc1700 numbskulled1707 crassous1708 doddy-polled1708 haggis-headed1715 niddy-noddy1722 muzzy1723 pudding-headed1726 sumphish1728 pitcher-souleda1739 duncey1743 hebete1743 chuckheaded1756 dumb1756 duncely1757 imbecile1766 mutton-headed1768 chuckle-headed1770 jobbernowl1770 dowfarta1774 boobyish1778 wittol1780 staumrel1787 opaquec1789 stoopid1791 mud-headed1793 borné1795 muzzy-headed1798 nog-headed1800 thick-headed1801 gypit1804 duncish1805 lightweight1809 numbskull1814 tup-headed1816 chuckle-pate1820 unintellectuala1821 dense1822 ninnyish1822 dunch1825 fozy1825 potato-headed1826 beef-headed1828 donkeyish1831 blockheadish1833 pinheaded1837 squirrel-minded1837 pumpkin-headed1838 tomfoolish1838 dundering1840 chicken-headed1842 like a bump on a log1842 ninny-minded1849 numbheadeda1852 nincompoopish1852 suet-brained1852 dolly1853 mullet-headed1853 sodden1853 fiddle-headed1854 numb1854 bovine1855 logy1859 crass1861 unsmart1861 off his chump1864 wooden-headed1865 stupe1866 lean-minded1867 duffing1869 cretinous1871 doddering1871 thick-head1873 doddling1874 stupido1879 boneheaded1883 woolly-headed1883 leaden-natured1889 suet-headed1890 sam-sodden1891 dopey1896 turnip-headed1898 bonehead1903 wool-witted1905 peanut-headed1906 peanut-brained1907 dilly1909 torpid-minded1909 retardate1912 nitwitted1917 meat-headed1918 mug1922 cloth-headed1925 loopy1925 nitwit1928 lame-brained1929 dead from the neck up1930 simpy1932 nail-headed1936 square-headed1936 dingbats1937 pinhead1939 dim-witted1940 pea-brained1942 clueless1943 lobotomized1943 retarded1949 pointy-headed1950 clottish1952 like a stunned mullet1953 silly (or crazy) as a two-bob watch1954 out to lunch1955 pin-brained1958 dozy1959 eejity1964 out of one's tiny mind1965 doofus1967 twitty1967 twittish1969 twatty1975 twattish1976 blur1977 dof1979 goofus1981 dickheaded1991 dickish1991 numpty1992 cockish1996 a1530 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfeccyon (1531) iii. f. CCxxv That the kyng of heuen wolde mary his onely eternall sone to a hedles woman. 1549 J. Cheke Hurt of Sedicion sig. C3 Nether..touched of hedles captains, nor holden of braynlesse rebels. 1648 J. Taylor Brown Dozen of Drunkards 8 Bacchus his headlesse, brainlesse, staggering and party-coloured Senate. 1757 Monthly Rev. Jan. 81 Such helpless, headless, heartless men. 1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 12 Sept. 4/2 A landowner, perfectly heartless and headless. 1999 P. Plagens Time for Robo 306 He became a heartless idiot. Now, confused and panicked, he's a headless idiot as well. b. Of a thing, action, etc. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupidity, dullness of intellect > [adjective] > of actions, ideas, etc. sloweOE bluntc1175 simplea1425 headless1563 sottish1592 thick1600 stupid1609 incrassate1659 crass1660 simple-minded1774 bright1830 simplistic1844 noodly1870 unelectric1876 dinlo1907 clunky1965 1563 R. Reynolds Foundacion of Rhetorike f. xxxviii^v Their miseries will driue them to..hedlesse aduentures. ?1565 A. Hartwell tr. W. Haddon Sight of Portugall Pearle sig. Diiii You are neuer weried in darting out whole quiuers full of sleueles slaundering and hedlesse hatred. 1587 J. Hooker Chron. Ireland 86/1 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) II Their bare words or headlesse saiengs. a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) i. ix. §2. 62 Headlesse Old-wiues Tales. 1647 Vindic. Army under Sir T. Fairfax (title page) A confused and headlesse peece, so surreptitiously crept forth. 1701 W. Paterson Proposals Council of Trade Introd. sig. *^v The main hazard..will be, of a Rash, Raw, Giddy and Headless Direction. 1837 Dublin Univ. Mag.* May 603/1 Literature had not expanded into a wholesale manufacture of headless and heartless workhouse ware. 1842 G. Griffin Talis Qualis iv. 68 His precipitate and headless conduct. 2011 Kildare Nationalist (Nexis) 14 Sept. There was no reason not to believe they wouldn't get one last chance in injury time.., but their headless behaviour ended any hope of that. Compounds headless cross n. a cross without a head or top part; a T-shaped cross; = tau cross n. at tau n. Compounds 3. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > charge: device on shield > cross > [noun] > tau cross tau cross1474 headless cross1483 cross commisse1688 tau1704 1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. cccvii/1 Thau is made lyke an hedeles Crosse. 1563 in Vicary's Anat. Bodie of Man (1888) App. iii. 163 There shalbe CC blew hedles Crosses made with all convenient spede. 1658 T. Pugh Brittish & Out-landish Prophesies 63 At the headless Cross besides Gloster shal many thousand be slain. 1853 H. W. Herbert Chevaliers of France 30 I can lead you to the great chestnut, and to the headless cross in the beech woods. 1998 R. Houlbrooke Death, Relig., & Family (2000) iii. 69 In 1550 a young single man..was found sitting on the cliff-top by a headless cross on Ascension Day reading the Word of God in English. headless horse n. an apparition in the form of a horse with no head; cf. headless horseman n. ΚΠ 1713 J. Gay Wife of Bath iii. i. 26 Many a dark Night have I seen the Headless Horse, and have had the Honour to Converse with the Queen of the Fairies. 1811 Weekly Visitor 11 May 5/2 He..was returning, by moonlight, petrified with fear and endeavouring to whistle away from remembrance the story of the Tall Woman in white, and her Headless Horse. 1903 Quiver 979/1 Among the dread superstitions of our forefathers, a headless horse..stopping before a door and striking it with his hoof, as a sure sign of coming death, was one of the weirdest. 2006 V. Khatri True Ghosts & Spooky Incidents 107 The horrible sight of a headless horse galloping across the moors near Calverley Hall in West Yorkshire has scared quite a number of people. headless horseman n. an apparition or ghost in the form of a headless man riding a horse. ΚΠ 1820 W. Irving Legend of Sleepy Hollow in Sketch Bk. II. iv. 98 The stories..turned upon the favourite spectre of Sleepy Hollow, the headless horseman who had been heard several times of late. 1866 M. Reid Headless Horseman Prol. 2 Heedless of the affrighted deer..the Headless Horseman rides on. 1906 E. Z. Elliott Old Schuylkill Tales 106 Sleepy Hollow was not the only locality that boasted of a headless horseman. Schuylkill County had one also, but there was no Washington Irving to immortalize him. 2000 Times 28 Oct. (Weekend section) 3/1 The Trust..is promoting its haunted houses for Hallowe'en with tales of headless horsemen,..and a ‘blue woman’ who shakes beds. Derivatives ˈheadlessness n. [perhaps compare earlier headlesshood n.] the state or condition of being headless (in various senses). ΚΠ 1706 E. H. & L. M. Jonas & Joshua 26 Jos. The word Avery..being a Church without a Head or Bishop belonging to it. Jo. Or a Barn either: What a peice of Headlessness is this. 1829 Edinb. Lit. Jrnl. 11 Apr. 308/1 The phantom..looked steadfastly in all its awful headlessness at the unfortunate pair. 1876 L. Tollemache in Fortn. Rev. Jan. 112 This singular example of sanitary headlessness. 1905 Canad. Mag. Dec. 184/1 The headlessness and chaos of Russian affairs. 1993 Daily Mail (Nexis) 3 Apr. 7 Many a decapitated marble torso in many an Italian park owes its headlessness to the British souvenir-hunters of an earlier era. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.OE
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