HUD
Abbreviation with 3 meanings
| Stands for | United States Department of Housing and Urban Development |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 3 |
| Categories | Government & Politics, Arts & Entertainment, Transportation & Travel |
HUD has three meanings. The most common are United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (US federal agency) and Heads-up display (video game); it can also stand for Head-up display.
Meanings of HUD at a glance
| # | HUD stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States Department of Housing and Urban Development | Government & Politics › US Federal Agency |
| 2 | Heads-up display | Arts & Entertainment › Video Game |
| 3 | Head-up display | Transportation & Travel › Aviation |
1. United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
Government & Politics · US Federal Agency Abbreviations
Funds public housing and Housing Choice Vouchers, insures mortgages through the Federal Housing Administration, enforces the Fair Housing Act and gives community development block grants to cities and states. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development heads it.
Example: The housing authority used HUD funding to replace elevators and roofs in its senior apartment buildings.
President Lyndon Johnson signed the act creating it in September 1965 as part of his Great Society agenda. Its first secretary, Robert C. Weaver, became the first Black member of a presidential cabinet in 1966, and the headquarters in Washington is named after him.
2. Heads-up display
Arts & Entertainment · Video Game Abbreviations
On-screen information overlaid on gameplay, such as health, ammunition, maps, scores and objectives. Some games offer minimal or no HUD for immersion.
Example: Turn off the HUD in settings if you want cleaner screenshots.
The term is borrowed from aviation, where heads-up displays project data onto a pilot's view so they need not look down. Diegetic HUDs place information inside the game world, as with the suit display in Dead Space. In US government HUD means the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
3. Head-up display
Transportation & Travel · Aviation Abbreviations
Transparent screen in the pilot's line of sight that projects flight information, such as speed, altitude and flight path, over the outside view so the pilot need not look down. Developed for fighter jets, HUDs are now common on airliners and in many cars, where they project speed and navigation onto the windshield.
Example: With the HUD showing the flight path marker, the captain kept the jet on centerline through the fog.
Aviation uses "head-up"; car marketing often says "heads-up display." Alaska Airlines was an early US airline adopter, using HUDs to land in lower visibility. In cars, General Motors offered a HUD on the 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. Many airliner HUDs now include enhanced vision from infrared cameras.
Related abbreviations
More US federal agency abbreviations
- GSA – U.S. General Services Administration
- HHS – United States Department of Health and Human Services
- HRSA – Health Resources and Services Administration
- HSI – Homeland Security Investigations
- ICC – Interstate Commerce Commission
- ICE – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- IHS – Indian Health Service
- IRS – Internal Revenue Service
See all 152 US federal agency abbreviations →