n. A head; the head or upper part of anything.n. The person highest in authority; the head or head man.n. A principal, leader, or director in general; especially, the hereditary or the chosen head of a clan or tribe: used as a title particularly for the heads of Scottish Highland clans, and for the controlling or governing heads of uncivilized or semi-civilized tribes.n. The principal officer of a bureau or division of the civil service, or of an editorial staff, newspaper office, mercantile establishment, or other organized body.n. The principal or most important part or portion; the bulk or larger part of one thing or of many.n. In heraldry, the head or upper part of the escutcheon, from side to side, cut off horizontally by a straight line, and containing properly a third part of the dimensions of the escutcheon.n. The prime; the most important part.n. At the head; in the principal or highest position or office: as, the commander-in-chief.n. In heraldry, charged upon the upper part of the shield: a term generally used when the chief itself is not indicatedn. Directly: said of land tenure: as, to hold land in chief (to hold it directly from the sovereign by honorable personal services).n. In direct or original procedure: as, an examination in chief. See examination.n. Synonyms Chief, Chieftain, Commander, Leader, Head, Chief, literally the head, is applied to one who occupies the highest rank in military or civil matters: as, an Indian chief; a military chief; the chief of a department in the civil service; a party chief. Chieftain is now mostly poetic, and is sometimes used in prose where the leadership is peculiarly suggestive of the past: as, a Highland chieftain. A commander is one who issues commands to a body or organization of a military or naval character, or has authority over it: as, the commander of the army in the East; the commander of the Asiatic squadron. A leader is the head of a party or faction, or one who conducts some special undertaking, perhaps actually going at the head: as, the leader of the House of Commons; the leader of the Conservative or Republican party; the leader of the storming party or forlorn hope; a leader of fashion. Head is applied to the chief of a tribe or family or profession: as, the head of the house of Cavendish; the head of the church; the head of the bar.Highest in office, authority, rank, or estimation; placed above the rest; principal: as, a chief priest; the chief butler.Hence— Principal or most eminent, in any quality or action; such that others (things, persons, particulars of any kind) are by comparison inferior or subordinate; most important; leading; main; most conspicuous.Intimate; near; close.Synonyms First, paramount, supreme, cardinal, capital, prime, vital, especial, essential, great, grand.Chiefly. Thomson.n. The senior general-staff officer on the staff of the commander of an army, army-corps, division, or department.n. The senior officer on the personal staff of a flag-officer in command of a fleet or squadron. When practicable, he is senior in rank to all other officers under command of the flag-officer.
