▪ I. headlong, adv. and a.
(ˈhɛdlɒŋ)
Also 5–6 hedlong.
[Alteration of the earlier headling, by erroneous assimilation to -long: cf. sidelong.]
A. adv.
1. Head foremost, in falling or plunging; head downmost.
| 1482 Monk of Evesham xli. (Arb.) 85 Oftyn times he fylle down hedlong. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. iv. 32 To cast a man hedlong into the ryver. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. iii. i. xxiv. (ed. 7) 330 Capricornus..riseth right up, and goeth downe headlong. 1658 J. Jones Ovid's Ibis 36 Achæus whom his subjects took And hang'd him headlong in the golden brook. 1725 Pope Odyss. viii. 556 To plunge it headlong in the whelming wave. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid v. 176 Headlong into the waters the laggard helmsman he threw. |
| fig. 1602 T. Fitzherbert Apol. 28 a, He casts him selfe head-long to hel. 1652 Sir C. Cotterell Cassandra iii. (1676) 34 He plunged himself headlong into his grief. |
2. Head foremost, as in rushing forward; with ungoverned speed; with blind impetuosity.
| 1576 Gascoigne Philomene (Arb.) 117 The harbrainde colte Which headlong runnes and for no bridle bydes. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 140 He bears his Rider headlong on the Foe. 1719 Young Revenge i. i, Darting headlong to thy arms, I left The promis'd fight. 1884 Chr. World 11 Sept. 678/4 A train ran off the line, and went headlong into a morass. |
b. fig. With unrestrained course; without regard to where one is going; precipitately.
| 1530 Tindale Answ. More i. xxix, They..runne headlong vnto al mischief. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 129 This cast the Duke head-long upon Counsels, dangerous, and full of desperation. 1721 Berkeley Prev. Ruin Gt. Brit. Wks. 1871 III. 205 To see their country run headlong into all those luxurious follies. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 362 He among us who would be divine..should not rush headlong into pleasures. |
B. adj.
1. Of heights, etc.: Such as one might fall headlong from; precipitous. Now rare.
| c 1550 Cheke Matt. viii. 32 Bi an hedlong place in to y⊇ see. 1692 E. Walker Epictetus' Mor. (1737) lx, You tumble down a headlong Precipice. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. xli, Like a tower upon a headlong rock. 1854 Hawthorne Eng. Note-bks. (1879) I. 890 Such a headlong hill. |
2. Plunging downwards head foremost, as when one falls or dives: a. of actions.
| c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxiii. v, They fell with headlong fall. 1608–11 Bp. Hall Medit. & Vows i. §60 The descent..[is] easie and headlong. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh i. 617 Headlong leaps of waters. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 612 Taking a headlong dive into the deep Atlantic. |
b. poet. of a person, etc.
| 1663 Butler Hud. i. ii. 870 The Friendly Rug preserv'd the ground, And headlong Knight from bruise or wound. 1855 Longfellow Hiaw. viii. 124 Down..Plunged the headlong Hiawatha. |
c. Hanging head downmost. rare.
| 1710 Pope Windsor For. 210 Oft in her glass the musing shepherd spies The headlong mountains and the downward skies. |
3. Rushing forward impetuously; wildly impetuous. Of actions or agents.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xi. 18 Nor bounds nor banks his headlong ruine may sustayne. 1613 J. Dennis Secr. Angl. i. in Arb. Garner I. 158 The rivers making way..With headlong course into the sea profound. 1715–20 Pope Iliad xii. 120 The moving legions speed their headlong way. 1718 Freethinker No. 88 ¶4 At her Call, he plunged into the headlong Stream. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 122 They saw a brigade of their countrymen..drive before it in headlong rout the finest infantry of Spain. Ibid. 540 Wild mountain passes..torn by headlong torrents. |
4. fig. Characterized by unrestrainable or ungoverned haste; precipitate, madly impetuous; rash, reckless. Of persons, their actions, etc.
| 1566 T. Stapleton Ret. Untr. Jewel iv. 58 Of most high wickednes or of hedlonge arrogancie. 1586 J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinshed II. 89/2 The lord Thomas being youthfull, rash, and headlong. 1640 Yorke Union Hon. 29 The headlong crew of London favour the rebelles. 1791 Cowper Odyss. ii. 322 Injurious Mentor! headlong orator! 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. xxi. The sparkling glance..Of hasty love, or headlong ire. 1884 Manch. Exam. 7 Oct. 5/1 Rash and headlong leaders. |
Hence † ˈheadlongwise adv., in a headlong way, precipitately. Obs.
| 1600 Holland Livy 29 Should still run on end, and head⁓longwise fall unto such base varlets. |
▪ II. † ˈheadlong, v. Obs.
[f. prec.]
1. trans. To cast headlong; to precipitate.
| c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxii. ii, To headlong him their thoughtes devise. 1622 H. Sydenham Serm. Sol. Occ. ii. (1637) 170 That place from which he was headlonged. ? a 1655 T. Adams Wks. (1861–2) III. 93 (D.) Our own sinful ignorance that headlongs us to confusion. |
2. intr. To proceed in a headlong fashion.
| 1654 Trapp Comm. Esther vi. 14 [They] hurried and head⁓longed in a turbulent manner. |