A headline is the title of a newspaper or magazine article, printed in large, bold letters at the top to grab your attention and tell you what the story is about. When you glance at the front page of a newspaper, the headlines let you quickly see what's happening: “Local Team Wins Championship” or “New Library Opens Downtown.”

Good headlines pack a lot of meaning into just a few words. They have to be short enough to fit the space but interesting enough to make you want to read more. Journalists spend serious time crafting headlines because they know most people decide whether to read an article based on its headline.

The word has expanded beyond newspapers. When something big happens, we say it makes headlines or becomes headline news. If a scientist makes an important discovery, it might be headline material. People also talk about the headlines when they mean the day's most important news stories: “Did you see the headlines this morning?”

As a verb, headline means to be the main attraction at an event. If you see “headlining” on a concert poster, it means the main performer whose name appears largest at the top.

Sometimes people grab headlines by doing something dramatic or controversial just to get attention.