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Glite Dictionary
🤦 A foolish person 🥊 A leather helmet
leatherhead

leatherhead

9.9
A leather helmet for early sports, or an Australian bird with a large head
  • noun
  • /ˈlɛðərˌhɛd/
  • UK
: 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
426 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
13 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
1 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.