headstrap

English

Etymology

From head +‎ strap.

Noun

headstrap (plural headstraps)

1. A strap that holds something onto the head.
   • 1957 February 28, “Polio Victim’s Business Assets Include 2 Fingers, Determination”, in The Edmonton Journal, 54th year, number 91, Edmonton, Alta., page two:

     In the room is his rocking bed, which replaced the tubular confinement of an iron lung last August, a special wheel chair, an electric typewriter, an unusual telephone and earpiece and an ungainly headstrap with two thin bars protruding from it. The headstrap takes the place of his arms. His wife, Joy, fastens the strap and inches his wheelchair to precisely the right distance from the typewriter. With the wheelchair locked in position he can type by punching the keys with a rod curving down from the headstrap. He dials the phone by means of a rod sticking straight out from the headstrap.

   • 1991 August 24, Daily Journal, page A2:

     It is important to have the proper prescription lenses and durable eyewear to meet sports’ demands on your vision. Most regular eyewear is not meant to be worn during active sports. Your eyeglases are not shatterproof. For instance, when playing racquetball, we suggest you wear one-piece plastic frames (no hinges) and polycarbonate lenses two or three millimeters thick with a headstrap.

   • 2013 August 14, The World‎^[1]:

     Lightweight, two-strap filtering facepiece respirators with an adjustable noseclip and new braided headstraps

   • 2014 August 8, The Barksdale Warrior, volume VII, number XLV, page 5A:

     Airmen 1st Class Steve Pak, left, and Karl Santos, 2nd Logistics Readiness Squadron mobility section, place headstraps on M-50 Gas Masks on Barksdale Air Force Base July 21.

   • 2014, Abigail R. Gehring, The Ultimate Guide to Old-Fashioned Country Skills:

     The feature is retained in the Poirier pack above mentioned, by means of a headstrap, which is separate from the shoulder straps, and is shown hanging down in the illustration.

   • 2015 September 27, Paresh Dave, “Zuckerberg talks VR at Oculus”, in The Gleaner, page 2D:

     At Oculus Connect, most attendees were designing games and content for virtual reality goggles — where a headstrap holds a screen in front of users’ eyes and envelops their view.

   • 2017, Joe R. Lansdale, Devil Red::

     Hacking my way through the undergrowth, following the little beam of my headstrap light, I fought my way forward.

2. A strap that secures or guides the movement of the head.
   • 1841 June 5, “Injury of the Cervical Vertebræ”, in Provincial Medical & Surgical Journal, volume II, number 36, London, page 191:

     The patient was first laid upon the inclined plane on the 23rd of October, having gentle extension made upon the vertebræ; a headstrap being placed under the chin, and the cord over the pulley, with the necessary extension at the feet, as particularly explained in my work on Curvatures of the Spine, page 111: […]

   • 1900, Edward Hitchcock, H. H. Seelye, P. C. Phillips, An Anthropometric Manual, page 34:

     Back to machine, stand erect, headstrap around forehead, Bow the head till chin touches chest, stooping a little forward at the same time.

3. The strap on a bridle that runs over the top of the horse's head and along the length of both sides of the horse's head.
   • 1845, Eugène Sue, The Godolphin Arabian; or, The History of a Thorough-Bred, London: Chapman and Elcoate, page 91:

     Into this meadow, Roxana, wholly destitute of clothing, was led by Chifney, with a bridle of orange silk, ornamented at each side of the headstrap with a bow of the same colour.

   • 1898, Saddlery and Harness - Volume 7, page 35:

     Cut the noseband (which is to be quite plain, no stitching except the sewing on of chapes and headstrap) 2ft. 5½ins x 1¼ ins, […]

   • 1935, Journal of the Department of Agriculture, South Australia, page 1584:

     Slip the headstrap over his head, rubbing him with your hand gently all the time.