A subhead (short for subheading) is a secondary title that appears under a main heading to organize information into smaller sections. When you read a textbook chapter, the big title at the top is the main heading, while the smaller titles throughout the chapter are subheads. They help break up long passages of text and guide you to the specific information you're looking for.

In a newspaper article about a local science fair, the main headline might read “Students Showcase Amazing Inventions,” while subheads within the article might say “Third Grader Builds Solar Oven” or “Robotics Team Wins Top Prize.” Each subhead introduces a new part of the story.

Writers use subheads to make their work easier to navigate and understand. Without them, you'd have to read everything from start to finish to find what interests you. With subheads, you can scan through and jump to the section you need. Think of subheads like signs in a museum: they tell you what's coming next and help you decide where to focus your attention.