"head-scratcher" meaning in All languages combined

See head-scratcher on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Audio: en-au-head scratcher.ogg [Australia] Forms: head-scratchers [plural]
Etymology: From head + scratcher. Literal sense 1873, figurative 1971. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|head|scratcher}} head + scratcher Head templates: {{en-noun}} head-scratcher (plural head-scratchers)
  1. A device used to scratch the head.
    Sense id: en-head-scratcher-en-noun-~LH4uR~5 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 62 38
  2. (informal) Something particularly puzzling or confusing. Tags: informal Synonyms: poser, stumper
    Sense id: en-head-scratcher-en-noun-CkjcNVCL
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: head scratcher, headscratcher Related terms: head scratching, head-scratching, scratch one's head

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for head-scratcher meaning in All languages combined (2.5kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "head",
        "3": "scratcher"
      },
      "expansion": "head + scratcher",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From head + scratcher. Literal sense 1873, figurative 1971.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "head-scratchers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "head-scratcher (plural head-scratchers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "head scratching"
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    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "head-scratching"
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    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
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  "senses": [
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      "categories": [
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          "_dis": "62 38",
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          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "2004, Kelley Hays-Gilpin - Ambiguous Images: Gender and Rock Art (ISBN number 0759100659) page 133.\nHer aunt's husband or her grandfather brings a head scratcher. \"If the maid scratched her hair or body with her fingers during these days of observance, her hair would fall out.\""
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A device used to scratch the head."
      ],
      "id": "en-head-scratcher-en-noun-~LH4uR~5",
      "links": [
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        [
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      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "December 2007, Daily News Tribune - Golden Globes nominations a head-scratcher"
        },
        {
          "text": "July 2002, Fox News - Attorney: Williams' Kids Near Compromise About Father's Remains\n\"A judge will decide what is the most logical, although I'm sure to some judges [freezing the body] will seem like science fiction and a wild scheme,\" McDonald said. \"Other judges make think this is a good thing. It will be a head scratcher for the judge.\""
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something particularly puzzling or confusing."
      ],
      "id": "en-head-scratcher-en-noun-CkjcNVCL",
      "links": [
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) Something particularly puzzling or confusing."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "poser"
        },
        {
          "word": "stumper"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
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      "audio": "en-au-head scratcher.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9e/En-au-head_scratcher.ogg/En-au-head_scratcher.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/En-au-head_scratcher.ogg",
      "tags": [
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      "text": "Audio (AU)"
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      "word": "head scratcher"
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      "word": "headscratcher"
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{
  "categories": [
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    "English nouns",
    "English terms with audio links"
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  "etymology_templates": [
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      "args": {
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    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From head + scratcher. Literal sense 1873, figurative 1971.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "head-scratchers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "head-scratcher (plural head-scratchers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  ],
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
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      "word": "head scratching"
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    {
      "word": "head-scratching"
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    {
      "word": "scratch one's head"
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  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "2004, Kelley Hays-Gilpin - Ambiguous Images: Gender and Rock Art (ISBN number 0759100659) page 133.\nHer aunt's husband or her grandfather brings a head scratcher. \"If the maid scratched her hair or body with her fingers during these days of observance, her hair would fall out.\""
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A device used to scratch the head."
      ],
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      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English informal terms"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "December 2007, Daily News Tribune - Golden Globes nominations a head-scratcher"
        },
        {
          "text": "July 2002, Fox News - Attorney: Williams' Kids Near Compromise About Father's Remains\n\"A judge will decide what is the most logical, although I'm sure to some judges [freezing the body] will seem like science fiction and a wild scheme,\" McDonald said. \"Other judges make think this is a good thing. It will be a head scratcher for the judge.\""
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something particularly puzzling or confusing."
      ],
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          "puzzling",
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          "confusing"
        ]
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) Something particularly puzzling or confusing."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "poser"
        },
        {
          "word": "stumper"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    }
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  "sounds": [
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      "audio": "en-au-head scratcher.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9e/En-au-head_scratcher.ogg/En-au-head_scratcher.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/En-au-head_scratcher.ogg",
      "tags": [
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  "synonyms": [
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      "word": "head scratcher"
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      "word": "headscratcher"
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}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.