/ · 1894 Brewer’s · H · Head of Cattle
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Cattle are counted by the head; manufacturing labourers by hands, as “How many hands do you employ?” horses by the nose (See Nose); guests at dinner by the cover, as “Covers for ten,” etc. (See Numbers, Hand.)
⁂ In contracting for meals the contractor takes the job at so much “a head”—i.e. for each person.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
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