heidbanger

Noun

headbanger (plural headbangers)

1. One who dances by violently shaking the head in time to the music.
2. (broadly) One who enjoys heavy metal (rock) music, to which this sort of dance is usually performed.

   Synonyms:

   metalhead, metaller

3. A violently deranged, extreme or fanatical person; a nutcase.
4. A silly or eccentric person.
5. (UK) A political hardliner, especially an obstructive one.
   • We would therefore paralyse ourselves for no good reason other than the propagandistic appeasement of the Daily Mail, the Sun, my noble friend Lord Hamilton and a few other headbangers in the Commons on the Conservative side.2010, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords, The Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).: House of Lords official report
6. (Northern Ireland) A person who engages in street violence, especially in support of a political group.
   • We also had a heavy crew of home-grown headbangers who were likely to get involved in any IRA - UVF battles. It would not have taken much to tip Scotland into the serial sectarian violence that was rife in Belfast and the surrounding areas.2005 November 15, Les Brown, Robert Jeffrey, Glasgow Crimefighter: The Les Brown Story, Black & White Publishing, →ISBN

See all 7 meanings of headbanger