Adjacent Words

figurehead definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a person used as a cover for some questionable activity [syn: front man, front, figurehead, nominal head, straw man, strawman]
2: figure on the bow of some sailing vessels

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1765 1. the figure on a ship's bow 2. a head or chief in name only

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a nominal leader or head without real power. 2 a carving, usu. a bust or a full-length figure, at a ship's prow.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Figurehead Fig"ure*head`, n. 1. (Naut.) The figure, statue, or bust, on the prow of a ship. 2. A person who allows his name to be used to give standing to enterprises in which he has no responsible interest or duties; a nominal, but not real, head or chief.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(figureheads) 1. If someone is the figurehead of an organization or movement, they are recognized as being its leader, although they have little real power. The President will be little more than a figurehead. N-COUNT 2. A figurehead is a large wooden model of a person that was put just under the pointed front of a sailing ship in former times. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

Charlie McCarthy, a nobody, a nothing, adherent, advocate, alter ego, alternate, amicus curiae, armory, attorney, backup, backup man, badge, badge of office, badges, baton, beak, blazonry, bow, bowsprit, brassard, bust, button, cap and gown, carving, chain, chain of office, champion, cipher, class ring, cockade, collar, common man, creature, cross, decoration, deputy, disciple, doll, dolly, dress, dummy, eagle, emblems, ensigns, executive officer, exponent, fantoccini, fasces, figure, figurine, fleur-de-lis, flunky, follower, forecastle, foredeck, forepeak, front, front man, gillie, gingerbread man, goon, hammer and sickle, hanger-on, henchman, heraldry, insignia, insignificancy, jackal, jackstraw, jib boom, lackey, lapel pin, lay figure, lieutenant, lightweight, little fellow, little guy, livery, locum, locum tenens, mace, man, man of straw, manikin, mannequin, mantle, marionette, markings, medal, mediocrity, minion, model, monument, mortarboard, mouthpiece, myrmidon, nebbish, nobody one knows, nominal head, nonentity, nose, obscurity, old school tie, paranymph, pin, pinch hitter, pip-squeak, pleader, portrait bust, procurator, prore, prow, proxy, punk, puppet, regalia, representative, ring, rose, rostrum, runt, satellite, scarecrow, school ring, scrub, sculpture, second in command, secondary, shamrock, shrimp, sigillography, skull and crossbones, small fry, small potato, small potatoes, snowman, sphragistics, squirt, squit, staff, stand-in, statuary, statue, statuette, stem, stooge, straw man, substitute, surrogate, swastika, sycophant, tartan, thistle, thug, tie, understudy, uniform, utility man, verge, vicar, vicar general, vice, vicegerent, votary, wand, wax figure, waxwork, whiffet, whippersnapper, wood carving