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helmet

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A hard, protective head covering, usually part of armour.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

hehlmuht

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈhɛlmət

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. clothing

    A hard, protective head covering, typically part of armour.

  2. That which resembles a helmet in form, position, etc.

  3. A naked shield or protuberance on the top or fore part of the head of a bird.

  4. The hood-shaped upper sepal or petal of some flowers, as of the monkshood or the snapdragon.

verb

  1. transitive

    To cover with, or as if with, a helmet.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
General and technical use

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (clothing) A hard, protective head covering, typically part of armour.

Used this way, helmet is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use helmet

  • “Always wear a helmet when riding your bicycle for safety.”

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

pith helmetcrash helmetfootball helmetsun helmetsteel helmetwhite helmetmotorcycle helmet

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • helmet flowernounCompound term

    A poisonous herb native to northern Europe having hooded blue-purple flowers.

  • helmet orchidnounCompound term

    Any of numerous orchids of the genus Pterostylis having leaves in a basal rosette and green flowers often striped purple or brown or red with the dorsal sepal incurved to form a hood.

  • batting helmetnounCompound term

    A helmet worn by the batter in baseball.

  • crash helmetnounCompound term

    A padded helmet worn by people riding bicycles or motorcycles.

  • football helmetnounCompound term

    A padded helmet with a face mask to protect the head of football players.

  • gas helmetnounCompound term

    A protective mask with a filter.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.