helmet
//ˈhɛlmɪt//
Forms
- Plural
- helmets
- present (v1)
- helmet
- past (v2)
- helmeted
- past participle (v3)
- helmeted
- present participle
- helmeting
- 3rd person singular
- helmets
Definitions
1.A hard, protective head covering, typically part of armour.
- Most speedboarders wear helmets, knee and elbow pads, and occasionally all-in-one aerodynamic suits, to protect themselves.
2.That which resembles a helmet in form, position, etc.
- And it makes me sick, the thought of your lipstick on his helmet.
- Jarvo’s a stinky old helmet.
1.To cover with, or as if with, a helmet.
- And then they’re fleeing in a second rain of meteorites, their arms helmetting their heads, as they run away from us.
- There was no nonsense about these women, no hysteria, no top-note emotion. They were not out for smashing windows or helmetting policemen, or blowing up things sky-high.
- COMRADE, I had done well with you to swear / Allegiance to the colors of romance / In the great days when our sweet mistress, France, / Girded her loins and helmetted her hair.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4609
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
From Middle English helmet, helmett, a borrowing from Old French helmet, heaumet, a diminutive of helme (Modern French heaume), equivalent to helm + -et.
The Old French is itself of Germanic origin (whence Old English helm).