headstock

English

Etymology

head +‎ stock

Noun

headstock (plural headstocks)

1. (mining) A headframe.
   • 1913, DH Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, chapter 6:

     It was a beautiful day. At Brinsley pit the white steam melted slowly in the sunshine of a soft blue sky; the wheels of the headstocks twinkled high up; the screen, shuffling its coal into the trucks, made a busy noise.

2. A part of a machine (such as a lathe or drill) that contains the primary spindle.
3. A beam that supports a bell.
4. A clamp that restrains a cow by the neck.
5. The part of a lute-type string instrument, such as a guitar, that holds the tuning pegs or tensioning screws of the strings.
6. (rail transport) A transverse structural member at the extreme end of a rail vehicle's underframe, also used on some bogies.
   • 1960 December, “The first hundred 25 kV a.c. electric locomotives for B.R.”, in Train Illustrated, page 728:

     The two-axle bogies, of Metro-Vick swing-link type, are of one-piece cast-steel construction with box-section side frames and headstocks.

Synonyms

• (rail): buffer beam
• (lutherie): peghead, pegbox

Coordinate terms

• (lathe part): tailstock

Translations

part of a machine that holds the rotating section particularly of a lathe, drill etc.

• Maori: puritāhuri

part of a lute-type string instrument

• Chinese: 琴頭／琴头 (qíntóu), 琴头 (qíntóu)
• Finnish: lapa (fi)
• German: Kopfplatte f, Kopf (de) m
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Maori: pane (mi)
• Portuguese: cabeça (pt) f, mão (pt) m
• Russian: голо́вка (ru) f (golóvka)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

References

• “headstock”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.