Word.ws English Dictionary

head scratching

head scratching is the alternative form of head-scratching.

Meaning of head-scratching

Noun

head-scratching (plural head-scratchings)

  1. (idiomatic) Confusion.
    • […] Milly got out of her basket to reconsider the matter. It took some deliberation and head scratching to decide the best method; […]1869 April, Carl Bernard, “Milly’s Bossy”, in Ballou’s Monthly Magazine, volume XXIX, number 4 (number 172 overall), Boston, Mass.: Office American Union, Flag of Our Union, and Novelette, No. 63...

See all 2 meanings of head-scratching

Forms of head scratching

pluralhead scratchings

Questions about head scratching

What is head scratching the alternative form of?
Head scratching is the alternative form of head-scratching.

Words near head scratching in the dictionary

  1. head rushes
  2. head scarf
  3. head scarves
  4. head scratcher
  5. head scratchers
  6. head scratching
  7. head scratchings
  8. head sea
  9. head seas
  10. head shop
  11. head shops

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: head scratching (page history and authors); head-scratching (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.

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Cite this entry: “head scratching.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/head_scratching. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.