headline

From head +‎ line.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhɛd.laɪn/
• Rhymes: -ɛdlaɪn

headline (plural headlines)

1. (journalism) The heading or title of a magazine or newspaper article.

   Synonym: hed

   The headline on today's newspaper reads "John Doe Wins Wood-Splitting Competition."

   • 2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist‎, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:

     Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins. For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you.

2. (printing, dated) The line at the top of a page containing the folio or number of the page.
3. (entertainment) The top-billed attraction.

   Synonym: headliner

4. (nautical) A headrope.

• (heading): byline, dateline

• Betteridge's law of headlines
• running headline

• Glossary of journalism: Article components

headline (third-person singular simple present headlines, present participle headlining, simple past and past participle headlined)

1. (intransitive, entertainment) To have top billing; to be the main attraction.

• headliner