airheadn.
/ˈɛːhɛd/, U.S. /ˈɛrˌ(h)ɛd/ 1. Mining. Usually in form air-head. A horizontal passage constructed in order to carry air to part of a mine. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > air > fresh air > [noun] > supplying fresh air or ventilation > ventilator > passage, shaft, duct, or pipe > underground
airhead1817
1817 J. Ryan in Trans. Soc. Encouragem. Arts, Manuf., & Commerce 34 111 In this mine, I found that ‘air heads’ had been driven, through which the air was forced from the blowing or downcast shaft to the upcast shaft.
1839 R. I. Murchison Silurian Syst. i. xxxvi. 490 Ventilation is effected by means of air-heads driven through the fault.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining Spout, a short underground passage in the Thick-coal workings connecting a main road with an air-head.
1931 Trans. Inst. Mining Engineers 80 342 A fall above the airhead in Bradbury's dip completely blocked it, so that a road had to be cut through the airhead stopping.
2. Military. An airbase close to an area of active operations where supplies and troops can be received and evacuated by air. Cf. beachhead n. at beach n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [noun] > strong point or fortified position
bridgehead1760
point d'appui1787
strong point1789
high ground1869
beachhead1940
box1942
airhead1943
1943 Salisbury (Maryland) Times 20 July 6/3 The military glider can supplement paratroops and help them hold an airhead, once it is attained.
1944 Amer. Notes & Queries Sept. 84/2 Airhead, the counterpart, in air action, of beachhead; used by Major Eliot F. Noyes..speaking before the Soaring Society of America, Aug. 5, 1944, in referring to the behind-German-lines base established by Allied gliders during the Normandy invasion.
1959 C. Ryan Longest Day ii. iii. 134 The enormous task of carving out and holding an ‘airhead’—an island of defense running from the Utah Beach area to a point far to the west across the base of the peninsula.
1995 Times Lit. Suppl. 16 June 4/2 Distant airheads are highly precarious.
3. slang (originally North American). A foolish, unintelligent, or frivolous person; a scatterbrain.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > foolish person, fool > [noun] > giddy, light-headed
light head1536
cock-brain1556
fiddler1591
wild goose1597
barmy-froth1598
knick-knacker1622
nugator1656
shatter-pate1775
feather-brain1776
whirl-brain1817
feather-head1834
date1914
bubblehead1916
airhead1971
1971 Daily Times-News (Burlington, N. Carolina) 17 Aug. 9 a/7 We are not all air-heads.
1984 T. C. Boyle Budding Prospects (1985) iii. viii. 224 I was a first-class schmuck, an airhead, an oaf and a poltroon.
2003 P. Lovesey House Sitter (2004) xiii. 201 [She] has the controlling interest in her old man's company, so she can't be a total airhead.
Derivatives
ˈairheaded adj. slang (originally North American) foolish, unintelligent; frivolous; scatterbrained.
ΚΠ
1976 J. Halperin & J. Kunert Plots & Char. in Fiction J. Austen, Brontës & G. Eliot 272 Dora's sister, who is pushy and air-headed.
1990 Washington Post (Nexis) 25 Nov. x8 However air-headed and politically silly the characters may be, they are convincing.
2005 Daily Tel. 15 July 21/5 The idea that even the most airheaded bridesmaid might fall for this kind of puppy-dog ingratiation is fairly hard to stomach.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1817