headless
/ˈhɛdləs
/adjective
1(Of a body) having no head: a headless corpse...
- Shabby squeak-toys and the headless action figures of a thousand neglectful tots rose from the unkempt lawns.
- He appears as an eerie mannequin: although elegantly clad in a hunting coat and breeches, he is headless as if he has just been put through a guillotine.
- Officers say two headless birds were found on farmland, and another pair had their necks snapped.
2(Of an object) lacking a tip, end, or top part.According to tradition he fell at Dittingdale, near Castlebridge, struck in the throat by a headless arrow....
- I swigged a strangely headless pint of stout, got to know my rather personable and engaging coursemates a little better, and generally had a grand time.
- They were the manufacturer of headless guitars.
2.1(Of a nail, pin, etc.) lacking a flattened or knobbed end: headless nails...
- Had they been in possession of a handful of headless nails and a hammer, they could have spiked Wellington's artillery.
- The first machine-cut nails were flat and headless.
- A pin-nailer works on air pressure and shoots headless nails or pins into a trim to hold it against a wall.
2.2(Of a flower or vegetable) lacking a compact mass of leaves or flowers at the top of the stem: strange, headless flowers headless cabbages...
- I came home and peered into the pot and saw headless artichokes.
- The Greeks cultivated headless cabbages and invested them with a religious significance.
- From surviving pictures and reliefs, it is clear that Egyptian cabbage was headless.
3(Of an organization) lacking a person in charge; having no director or leader: the department is headless the bank is currently headless...
- We have welfare officers who each have a dozen headless families to look after.
- He left the organisation headless for quite some time.
- It is worthwhile to mention that the department has been headless for the past one month.
4Having no sense; stupid: headless idiots who can’t string more than two passes together...
- The anxiety attacks that are already afflicting MPs will be the more likely to swell into headless panic about losing the next election.
- He was known to have called the player "tactically naive" after some of his more headless performances last season.
- His misery was further compounded by the needless and headless sending off of the influential defender.