headhouse

H4E1A1D2H4O1U1S1E1

noun

The portion of a passenger railway terminal not housing the tracks and platforms, comprising ticket counters, baggage facilities, etc.

Scrabble 16
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Meanings

nounheadhouse (plural headhouses)

plural headhouses · alternative head house

  1. The portion of a passenger railway terminal not housing the tracks and platforms, comprising ticket counters, baggage facilities, etc.

    Several members cast it as an either-or issue, pitting the form of the headhouse against the function of the passageway.

    2007 January 8, William Neuman, “Planners Clash Over Transit Hub, and Riders Win”, in New York Times
  2. The overground portion of a subway station.
  3. A structure built at the top of a ventilation shaft or mineshaft.
    1 more example

    HS2 Ltd has unveiled the final design for the Little Missenden ventilation shaft headhouse on the ten-mile-long Chilterns Tunnel. Its single-storey design is said to have been inspired by barns and historic agricultural buildings in the area. [...] The headhouse will sit above a ventilation shaft 17.4 metres in diameter and 30 metres deep.

    2020 December 2, “Network News: Vent shaft design revealed”, in Rail, page 19

Origin

From head + house.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Esperanto stacidomo
  • stacidomoportion of a passenger railway terminal not housing the tracks and platforms, comprising ticket counters, baggage facilities, etc.
French bâtiment des voyageurs
  • bâtiment des voyageursportion of a passenger railway terminal not housing the tracks and platforms, comprising ticket counters, baggage facilities, etc.
German Empfangsgebäude, Empfangshalle
  • Empfangsgebäudeportion of a passenger railway terminal not housing the tracks and platforms, comprising ticket counters, baggage facilities, etc.
  • Empfangshalleportion of a passenger railway terminal not housing the tracks and platforms, comprising ticket counters, baggage facilities, etc.
  • Zugangsgebäudeportion of a passenger railway terminal not housing the tracks and platforms, comprising ticket counters, baggage facilities, etc.
  • Stationsgebäudeportion of a passenger railway terminal not housing the tracks and platforms, comprising ticket counters, baggage facilities, etc.
  • Aufnahmegebäudeportion of a passenger railway terminal not housing the tracks and platforms, comprising ticket counters, baggage facilities, etc.
Polish dworzec kolejowy
  • dworzec kolejowyportion of a passenger railway terminal not housing the tracks and platforms, comprising ticket counters, baggage facilities, etc.
Spanish zaguán, mezanine
  • zaguánportion of a passenger railway terminal not housing the tracks and platforms, comprising ticket counters, baggage facilities, etc.
  • mezanineportion of a passenger railway terminal not housing the tracks and platforms, comprising ticket counters, baggage facilities, etc.

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

househead
Cite this entry
APA

headhouse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/headhouse

MLA

“headhouse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/headhouse. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “headhouse,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/headhouse.

Source: headhouse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.