headstead

plural headsteads · alternative head-stead · alternative head stead

1. A place for the head, especially somewhere to lay or rest it; a headrest.
2. A bolster or cushion for the head.
3. The area at the head of the bed; headboard.

   Bedsprings creaked and squealed, the posts of the brass-railed headstead hammering rhythmically against the wall [...]

   2012, William W. Johnstone, J. A. Johnstone, Savage Texas

   2 more examples

   He lies bundled up now between the quilts and blankets of his four-poster iron bed with its brass roses carved at the headstead.

   1956, John Howard Griffin, Nuni

   He began to look at his watch now, every few minutes, and Camille was holding his arm with one hand and clutching the brass headstead on the bed with the other, shrieking whenever the pains came, which was most of the time now.

   1986, Danielle Steel, Thurston House