table head

noun3

1. •
   The end of an examining, operating or imaging table on which the patient’s head rests.

   • Check that the operating table is locked in position […] and that the handle for tipping the table head down (in case the patient vomits) is there and you know how it works. — 1983
2. •
   (old-fashioned) One of the short ends of a rectangular table, considered to be the most prominent place and often reserved for the host(s).

   • He that eates without labour (set him at the table head) he hes no honestie. — 1606
3. •
   At a school, the senior pupil in charge of those assigned to a particular meal table; a similar position in other institutions.

   • A second bell interrupted the meal, and a prefect summoned the table-head to the prefects' table. — 1965