▪ I. head-stall, headstall, n.1
(ˈhɛdstɔːl)
[f. head n.1 + stall, OE. steall position, standing position, standing place, place, stall for horses, etc.
Possibly applied first, as in finger-stall, to a closed place or case made to contain a part, and thence extended to the open casing of a head-stall.]
† 1. (?) See quot. Obs.
| 1404 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 264 Item, for a hed⁓stalle for the taberet, iiij. d. |
2. The part of a bridle or halter that fits round the head.
| 1480 Wardr. Acc. Edw. IV (1830) 153, x hedstalles and x broderayns for x hobyes and palfreys. 1592 Greene Art Conny Catch. ii. 5 A litle white leather head-stal and rains. 1684 Evelyn Diary 17 Dec., The reins and headstalls were of crimson silk. 1715–20 Pope Iliad viii. 676 And fix'd their headstalls to his chariot-side. 1852 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour vi. 25 The collar-shanks were neatly coiled under the headstalls. |
3. A bandage worn by ancient flute-players to prevent undue distension of the cheeks in blowing.
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Head-Stall, among antient musicians. 1888 in Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. T. |
Hence head-stall v. trans. nonce-wd., to put a headstall on (a horse).
| 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 92 You must first beat him from these faults, before you goe about to head⁓stall him. |
▪ II. † head-stall, n.2 Obs.
A choir-stall for a chief official, having its back against the screen, i.e. facing east.
| c 1515 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 483 Karving and ioynyng for x hedstalles with their tabernacles of them. |