heads-up display

noun

plural heads-up displays
: a system that projects information onto a usually transparent surface that sits directly in a user's line of vision
The "heads-up display," or "HUD," projects an image of the speedometer, fuel gauges and other controls onto the windshield, so that a motorist could read them without looking away from the road.—Warren Brown
… helping to develop flight simulators and heads-up display helmets that let airplane pilots see gauges and flight data without having to look down at the instrument panel …—Sabra Chartrand
—abbreviation HUD

Examples of heads-up display in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The company pitched it as a way to give people working in medical, agricultural, and factory settings a heads-up display that would feed them information while keeping their hands free. — Mitchell Clark, The Verge, 15 Mar. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1964, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of heads-up display was in 1964

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Cite this Entry

“Heads-up display.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heads-up%20display. Accessed 1 Oct. 2026.

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