[have to do with]{v. phr.} 1. To be about; be on the subject of orconnected with. •/The book has to do with airplanes./ 2. To know or be afriend of; work or have business with. — Usually used in negative sentence.•/Tom said he didn’t want to have anything to do with the new boy./ •/Ihad nothing to do with the party; I was home that night./

[have too many irons in the fire] See: TOO MANY IRONS IN THE FIRE.

[have two strikes against one] or [have two strikes on one] {v.phr.}, {informal} To have things working against you; be hindered inseveral ways; be in a difficult situation; be unlikely to succeed.•/Children from the poorest parts of a city often have two strikes againstthem before they enter school./ •/George has two strikes against himalready. Everybody is against what he wants to do./ Compare: BEHIND THE EIGHTBALL. (In baseball, three strikes are out. If the umpire calls two strikesagainst the batter, he has only one strike left and will be out if he gets onemore strike.)

[haw] See: HEM AND HAW.

[hay] See: HIT THE HAY.

[haystack] See: NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK.

[haywire] See: GO HAYWIRE.

[hazard] See: AT ALL HAZARDS.

[haze] See: IN A FOG or IN A HAZE.

[head] See: ACID HEAD, BEAT INTO ONE’S HEAD, BEAT ONE’S HEAD AGAINST AWALL, BIG HEAD, COUNT HEADS, EYES IN THE BACK OF ONE’S HEAD, FROM HEAD TO FOOT,GET THROUGH ONE’S HEAD, GOOD HEAD ON ONE’S SHOULDERS, GO TO ONE’S HEAD, HANGONE’S HEAD, HAVE ONE’S HEAD IN THE SAND, HAVE ROCKS IN ONE’S HEAD, HEAP COALSOF FIRE ON ONE’S HEAD, HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD, HANG OVER ONE’S HEAD, HIDEONE’S FACE or HIDE ONE’S HEAD, HOLD ONE’S HEAD UP, KEEP A CIVIL TONGUE IN ONE’SHEAD, KEEP ONE’S HEAD, LOSE ONE’S HEAD, MAKE HEAD OR TAIL OF, OFF THE TOP OFONE’S HEAD, ON ONE’S HEAD, OUT OF ONE’S HEAD, also OFF ONE’S HEAD, OVER ONE’SHEAD, PRICE ON ONE’S HEAD, PUT THEIR HEADS TOGETHER or LAY THEIR HEADSTOGETHER, SWELLED HEAD, TAKE INTO ONE’S HEAD, TELL --- WHERE TO GET OFF or TELL--- WHERE TO HEAD IN, THROW ONESELF AT SOMEONE’S HEAD or FLING ONESELF ATSOMEONE’S HEAD, TURN ONE’S HEAD, USE ONE’S HEAD.

[head above water]{n. phr.} out of difficulty; clear of trouble.•/How are your marks at school? Are you keeping your head above water?/•/Business at the store is bad. They can’t keep their heads above water./

[head and shoulders]{adv. phr.} 1. By the measure of the head andshoulders. •/The basketball player is head and shoulders taller than theother boys./ 2. By far; by a great deal; very much. •/She is head andshoulders above the rest of the class in singing./ See: FAR AND AWAY.

[header] See: DOUBLE-HEADER.

[head for]{v. phr.} To go in the direction of. •/We left early inthe morning and headed for Niagara Falls./

[head for the hills]{v. phr.}, {informal} To get far away in ahurry; run away and hide. — Often used imperatively. •/Head for the hills.The bandits are coming./ •/He saw the crowd chasing him, so he headed forthe hills./ •/When they saw the mean boy coming, they all headed for thehills./ Compare: BEAT IT, LIGHT OUT, TAKE TO THE WOODS.

[head-hunting]{n.}, {slang}, {informal} 1. The custom ofseeking out, decapitating, and preserving the heads of enemies as trophies. 2.A search for qualified individuals to fill certain positions. •/The presidentsent a committee to the colleges and universities to do some head-hunting; wehope he finds some young talent./ 3. A systematic destruction of opponents,especially in politics. •/Billings was hired by the party to do somehead-hunting among members of the opposition./

[head in the clouds] See: IN THE CLOUDS.

[head in the sand] See: HIDE ONE’S HEAD IN THE SAND.

[head off]{v.} 1. To get in front of and stop, turn back, or turnaside. •/The sheriff said to head the cattle thieves off at the pass./ 2.To block; stop; prevent. •/He will get into trouble if someone doesn’t headhim off./

[head-on]{adj.} or {adv. phr.} 1. With the head or front pointingat; with the front facing; front end to front end. •/Our car skidded into ahead-on crash with the truck./ •/In the fog the boat ran head-on into alog./ •/There is a head-on view of the parade from our house./ Compare:FACE-TO-FACE. Contrast: REAR-END. 2. In a way that is exactly opposite; againstor opposed to in argument. •/If you think a rule should be changed, a head-onattack against it is best./ •/Tom did not want to argue head-on what theteacher said, so he said nothing./

[head out]{v.} 1. To go or point away. •/The ship left port andheaded out to sea./ •/The car was parked beside the house. It was headedout towards the street./ 2. {informal} Leave; start out. •/I have along way to go before dark. I’m going to head out./

[head over heels] also [heels over head] 1a. In a somersault; upsidedown; head first. •/It was so dark Bob fell head over heels into a big holein the ground./ Compare: UPSIDE DOWN. 1b. In great confusion or disorder;hastily. •/The children all tried to come in the door at once, head overheels./ Compare: TOPSY-TURVY. 2. {informal} Completely; deeply. •/Hewas head over heels in debt./ •/She was head over heels in love./

[headshrinker]{n.}, {slang}, {informal} A psychoanalyst, alsocalled a shrink. •/Forrester is falling apart; his family physician sent himto a head shrinker (to a shrink)./

[head start]{n.} 1. A beginning before someone; lead or advantage atthe beginning. •/The other racers knew they couldn’t catch Don if he got toobig a head start./ •/Joe has a head start. He began to study earlier thanwe did./ 2. A good beginning. •/Let’s get a head start in painting thehouse by getting up early./ •/The teacher gave the class a head start onthe exercise by telling them the answers to the first two problems./ Compare:RUNNING START.

[heads or tails]{n. phr.} The two sides of a coin, especially when thecoin is tossed in the air in order to decide which of two alternatives are tobe followed. •/Tom tossed a quarter in the air and said, "Tails, I win; headsyou win."/

[heads up]{interj.}, {informal} Keep your head up and be carefulor ready. — Used as a warning to prepare for something or clear the way•/"Heads up!" said the waiter carrying the hot food./ •/Heads up, boys! Atrain is coming./ •/Heads up, now! You can do better than that./ Syn.:LOOK ALIVE, LOOK OUT.

[heads-up]{adj.}, {informal} Wide-awake; alert; watchful;intelligent. •/You must play hard, heads-up baseball to win this game./Compare: ON ONE’S TOES, ON THE BALL.

[head up]{v.}, {informal} 1. To be at the head or front of.•/The elephants headed up the whole parade./ 2. To be the leader or bossof. •/Mr. Jones will head up the new business./ •/The class planned acandy sale, and they elected Mary to head it up./

[health] See: CLEAN HILL OF HEALTH.

[heap] See: STRIKE ALL OF A HEAP.

[heap coals of fire on one’s head]{v. phr.}, {literary} To be kindor helpful to someone who has done wrong to you, so that he is ashamed.•/Alice heaped coals of fire on Mary’s head by inviting her to a party afterMary had gossiped about her./ •/Jean Valjean stole the Bishop’s silver, butthe Bishop heaped coals of fire on his head by giving the silver to him./