Meaning of have one's head read | Babel Free

Definitions

1. To have the bumps, indentations, and shape of one's skull examined and interpreted by a phrenologist.
   dated
2. To have one's mental health assessed, to receive a psychiatric examination.
   idiomatic

Examples

“He told the police that he went to a couple of "phrenologists" to have his head read with the idea of getting rid of the pain in his stomach.”

“In the summer of 1849, Walt Whitman walked into an office on Nassau Street in Manhattan to have his head read. Lorenzo Niles Fowler, a phrenologist, palpated 35 areas on both sides of the skull corresponding to emotional or intellectual capacities in the brain.”

“"A guy who thinks he gets smart in this horse-race game oughta have his head read."”

“She is not crazy so don't tell me to take her to a doctor to have her head read.”

“Mr Gibbs says those who think Mr Obama is like George W Bush need to “have their heads read”.”

CEFR level