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Glite Dictionary
🥊 A leather helmet 🤦 A foolish person
leatherhead

leatherhead

9.9
A leather helmet for early sports, or an Australian bird with a large head
  • noun
  • /ˈlɛðərˌhɛd/
  • UK
translation icon : casco de cuero
  • In the early days of American football, players wore a leatherhead for protection.

Examples

  • The Australian leatherhead is known for its distinctive large head and loud call.

  • The museum displayed an old leatherhead used by rugby players in the 1920s.

  • The player wore a leatherhead during the match.

  • Many early sports used a leatherhead for protection.

  • In the early days of American football, players wore a leatherhead for protection.

  • The museum displayed an old leatherhead used by rugby players in the 1920s.

  • Many early sports used a leatherhead for protection.

Synonyms

helmet
vsleatherhead
649 1.0

A hard or padded hat that protects the head from injury

is made of leather and used historically in early sports
headgear
vsleatherhead
8 3.7

Items like hats worn on the head for protection, decoration, or ceremony

is a specific leather protective item rather than any general head covering
headwear
vsleatherhead
3 3.1

Items you wear on your head, like hats or helmets

is a particular leather protective object rather than general head clothing
headpiece
vsleatherhead
1 5.8

A strong covering worn on the head to protect it

is specifically a leather-made protective form rather than any head covering
casque
vsleatherhead
9.9

A metal helmet worn by soldiers long ago or a hard, helmet-like growth on some birds' heads

is leather in material rather than metal or bony growths
casquet
vsleatherhead
  • Archaic
9.9

A light open helmet worn by soldiers long ago

is made of leather rather than this open historical form

Surface Forms

leatherhead singular
leatherheads plural

Morphology

leatherhead = leather + head (semi-transparent) = leather + head

The word is a clear compound of 'leather' and 'head', but one of its uses is specialized and lexicalized rather than fully predictable from the parts.

Etymology

The word leatherhead is simply leather + head: early sports helmets were made of leather, and some Australian birds have big, leathery heads. So leatherhead can mean a leather helmet or a bird with a large, tough-looking head.