headband
(ˈhɛdbænd)
1. a. A band worn round the head, a fillet.
| 1535 Coverdale Isa. iii. 20 Headbandes, rynges and garlandes. 1677 Govt. Venice 120 Coyfe of white Linnen..like the Headband which the Conservators of their Laws wore at Athens during their Office. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Sleeping, To promote Sleep, take common Roses with the white of an Egg well beaten..and make an Headband or Fillet of it. 1853 Hickie tr. Aristoph. (1872) II. 547 Let me wear the head-band as conqueror. |
b. tr. L. capistrum a halter. (Cf. fillet 1 c.)
| 1782 J. Elphinston tr. Martial i. civ. 77 A beast, like Calydon's of yore, Boasts headbands never bristler wore. |
c. The band connecting a pair of receivers or ear-phones.
| 1913 Work 17 May 145/3 Double Receivers, with adjustable head-band. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio 256 Headphones, a pair of electro-acoustic transducers..held to the ears by a headband. |
2. A band round the top of trousers or drawers.
| 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxviii, Giving the head-band of his breeches a..hoist with one hand. 1834 M. Scott Cruise Midge x. (1863) 180 The iron-hook was..passed through the head-band of his nether garment. |
3. Bookbinding. An ornamental band or fillet (usually of silk or cotton) fastened to the inner back of a bound book at the head and tail; also, the material of which this is made.
| 1611 Cotgr., Trenchefile, the head-band of a booke. 1727–51 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Book-binding, The headband..is an ornament of silk of several colours..placed at each extreme of the back, across the leaves. 1817 Dibdin Bibl. Decameron II. 526 His great error lay in double head-bands, and brown-paper linings. 1892 J. W. Zaehnsdorf Binding of Bk. 11 In cheap work this headband, bought by the yard, is fastened on by glue..In early times this headband was twisted as the book was sewn, and..laced into the wooden boards. |
4. Arch. The band of mouldings on the inner contour of an arch; = archivolt.
| 1723 Chambers tr. Le Clerc's Treat. Archit. I. 57 The Archivolte or Head-Band. |
5. Printing. a. A thin slip of iron forming the top of the tympan of a printing-press. b. A printed or engraved band of decoration at the head of a page or chapter. (U.S.)
| 1841 Savage Dict. Print. 310. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. VIII. 774/2 These tympans are light square frames covered with parchment. They consist of three slips of thin wood with a headband or top slip of thin iron. |
Hence ˈheadbander, the person who fastens on the headbands of books; ˈheadbanding, the process of fastening these; also concr. the headband.
| 1707 Phil. Trans. XXV. 2401 Bookbinding shall be handled in all its Parts..Folding, Sewing, Headbanding. 1873 Spon Workshop Rec. (1875) 396 Headbanding, there are two kinds, stuck on and worked. 1892 J. W. Zaehnsdorf Binding of Bk. 11 Headbanding next follows, and is the work of women, it is the silk or cotton finish at the edges, head and tail. Ibid. 18 Headbander, the person who works the fine silk or cotton ornament at head or tail of the book. |