give someone their head
give someone their head verb: to allow (someone) to act without constraint: to give (someone) free rein.
Verb
give someone their head (third-person singular simple present gives someone their head, present participle giving someone their head, simple past gave someone their head, past participle given someone their head)
- To allow (someone) to act without constraint: to give (someone) free rein.
Forms of give someone their head
| third-person singular present | gives someone their head |
|---|---|
| present participle | giving someone their head |
| past | gave someone their head |
| past participle | given someone their head |
Origin of give someone their head
From horse racing: to allow a horse freedom of movement of its head.
Questions about give someone their head
- What does give someone their head mean?
- Give someone their head means to allow (someone) to act without constraint: to give (someone) free rein.
- What part of speech is give someone their head?
- Give someone their head is a verb.
- What is the past tense of give someone their head?
- The past tense of give someone their head is gave someone their head.
Words near give someone their head in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: give someone their head (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-give someone his head.ogg.
Cite this entry: “give someone their head.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/give_someone_their_head. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.