heed

1 of 2

verb

heeded; heeding; heeds

intransitive verb

: to pay attention

transitive verb

: to give consideration or attention to : mind
heed what he says
heed the call

heed

2 of 2

noun

Examples of heed in a Sentence

Verb It may be possible to desensitize a cat to being petted for extended periods.  … A safer solution is to consistently limit petting time, and to heed the cat's cues that she's had enough. Cat Watch, August 2008
In-line skating is not for everyone, and even those for whom it is ideally suited can skate into trouble, especially if they fail to heed safety precautions. Jane E. Brody, New York Times, 2 May 1991
However, he should heed an axiom from the pretelevision age: physician, heal thyself. George F. Will, Newsweek, 17 Mar. 1986
She failed to heed the warnings. if we had heeded the ranger's advice, we might not have gotten lost Noun Neither the British ministry nor the British Parliament welcomed American voices in determining policy in 1763, or ever. The British government paid little heed to the public press on either side of the water. Edmund S. Morgan, New York Review of Books, 16 Nov. 2006
She retrained as a doctor and it was through her pioneering research with cancer patients in the early 1960s (she showed how narcotics could be used without adverse effect) that the medical profession began to take heed. Kate Kellaway, Prospect, January 2003
Imagine swimming along with playful seals and then diving down to see such rarities as batfish.  … Fleets of hammerhead sharks pay divers no heed, nor do the penguins move out of the way. Town & Country, January 1983
took heed of the student's learning disability so as to arrive at reasonable expectations for him pay heed to what you're doing with that knife while you're talking
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Laura didn’t heed her mother’s advice and continued to pursue acting. Alex Gurley, Peoplemag, 3 Mar. 2024 Organizations that heed these calls will position themselves for lasting long-term success. Robert Sheen, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024 But not all delegates heeded calls from their district chairs, and officials said even some delegates from counties that had been denied credentials were allowed to participate after showing up in Grand Rapids on Saturday. Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press, 2 Mar. 2024 Fortunately for Stack Overflow, prospective customers have heeded the message, Chandrasekar says. Paresh Dave, WIRED, 29 Feb. 2024 Haley, Trump’s only remaining competitor in the race, has refused to heed calls from Trump and his GOP allies to drop out of the race so the party can coalesce behind Trump, doubling down on her commitment to stay in the contest past Super Tuesday on March 5 in a speech Tuesday from South Carolina. Sara Dorn, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024 Additionally, the city must heed the advice of the experts whose jobs are to help guide its decision-making. The San Diego Union-Tribune Staff, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Feb. 2024 Since Israel began its bombing campaign and ground invasion of Gaza, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians have fled south, heeding evacuation orders and pamphlets from the Israeli military. John Bacon, USA TODAY, 13 Feb. 2024 Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath urged residents near wildfire burn areas of Topanga and Soledad canyons to heed orders to get out ahead of possible mudslides. TIME, 5 Feb. 2024
Noun
Yet Nolan generally pays little heed to the issue of fallout, which Los Alamos doctors tried to raise and which Leslie Groves, the chief of the Manhattan Project, dismissed. Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 25 July 2023 Investors took heed and withdrew $101B of markets funds, mostly in the first three quarters of the year. Steve Booren, The Denver Post, 21 Jan. 2024 Darren Minier, director of animal welfare and research at the zoo, warns tropical-animal lovers to take heed. Julia Daye, Sacramento Bee, 7 Feb. 2024 Waterproof Phone Case $10 If you’re headed to the famous thermal baths at the Blue Lagoon to float in the salty water and apply a rejuvenating mud mask to your face, take heed. Kayla Becker, Travel + Leisure, 6 Feb. 2024 Related Articles Tornado bravado: Some sipped cocktails while others took heed. Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2024 Though strongly backed by the San Diego Police Department, privacy and community advocates, who claimed the plan lacked privacy safeguards and was pushed through with little heed to recommendations from a panel specifically created to analyze surveillance technology. Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Nov. 2023 If your Amazon deliveries are piling up, take heed. Danielle Tullo, House Beautiful, 15 June 2023 Taking heed to Durant’s message, Booker responded with a 16-point first quarter on 6-of-10 shooting in leading the Suns to a 17-point lead early in their 127-109 victory at Crypto.com Arena. Duane Rankin, The Arizona Republic, 12 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'heed.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

Middle English, from Old English hēdan; akin to Old High German huota guard, Old English hōd hood

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of heed was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near heed

Cite this Entry

“Heed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heed. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

heed

1 of 2 verb
1
: to pay attention
2
: to take notice of : mind
heed my words

heed

2 of 2 noun

More from Merriam-Webster on heed

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