noun
- a memorable or effective word or phrase that is repeated so often that it becomes a slogan, as in a political campaign or in advertising a product.
- Also called headword, guide word. a word printed at the top of a page in a dictionary or other reference book to indicate the first or last entry or article on that page.Compare running head.
- a device, used especially in old books, to assist the binder in assembling signatures by inserting at the foot of each page the first word of the following page.
- keyword(def 3).
noun
- a word or phrase made temporarily popular, esp by a political campaign; slogan
- a word printed as a running head in a reference book
- theatre an actor’s cue to speak or enter
- the first word of a printed or typewritten page repeated at the bottom of the page preceding
1730, “the first word of the following page inserted at the lower right-hand corner of each page of a book,” from catch (v.) + word (n.); extended to “word caught up and repeated” (especially in the political sense) by 1795. The literal sense is extinct; the figurative sense thrives.