headstrap

plural headstraps

1. A strap that holds something onto the head.

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

   2013 August 14, The World

   5 more examples

   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.

   1957 February 28, “Polio Victim’s Business Assets Include 2 Fingers, Determination”, in The Edmonton Journal, 54th year, number 91, Edmonton, Alta., page two

   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.

   1991 August 24, Daily Journal, page A2

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

   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.

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

   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.

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

2. A strap that secures or guides the movement of the head.

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

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

   1 more example

   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:[…]

   1841 June 5, “Injury of the Cervical Vertebræ”, in Provincial Medical & Surgical Journal, volume II, number 36, London, page 191

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.

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

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

   2 more examples

   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.

   1845, Eugène Sue, The Godolphin Arabian; or, The History of a Thorough-Bred, London: Chapman and Elcoate, page 91

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

   1898, Saddlery and Harness - Volume 7, page 35