Headquarters is the main office or center of command for an organization, where its leaders work and make important decisions. A company's headquarters is where the CEO and top executives plan the business's direction. A military general directs operations from headquarters. A political campaign runs from its headquarters, coordinating volunteers and strategy across different locations.

You'll often see it shortened to HQ in writing.

Headquarters serves as the brain of an organization. While a chain restaurant might have locations in fifty cities, its headquarters in one city houses the people who decide the menu, set prices, and create new policies. NASA's headquarters in Washington, D.C., oversees all its space centers around the country. Your school district probably has a headquarters building where the superintendent and school board make decisions affecting all the schools.

Kids sometimes create headquarters for their clubs or imaginary missions: a treehouse might become the headquarters for a secret agent club, or a basement corner might serve as a headquarters for planning a neighborhood scavenger hunt. It's wherever the planning happens and the person in charge can be found.