General
pumpkin head
What does pumpkin head mean?
What's left of someone's face after a sustained beating — swelling so bad the head goes round and orange-ish, eyes shut, features gone. In prison talk, giving someone a pumpkin head is a deliberate piece of work, not an accident.
"They found him in the cell with a full pumpkin head, couldn't even open his eyes."
Origin
American prison slang, descriptive — Halloween pumpkin shape and colour after major edema.
Frequently asked questions
What does pumpkin head mean?
Pumpkin head describes a head swollen grotesquely round from a serious beating. The name comes from the bloated, pumpkin-like shape left by heavy facial trauma.
How do you use pumpkin head in a sentence?
"After that fight he had a proper pumpkin head, all puffed up and bruised." It refers to a badly swollen, misshapen head from being beaten.
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