Hair

From Fresh Dictionary

English

Etymology

Old English her, heer, hær, Anglo Saxon hǣr; akin to Old Frisian, hēr, Dutch and German haar, Old High German and Icelandic hār, Danish haar, Swedish hÃ¥r; compare Lithuanian kasa

Pronunciation

• IPA: /heə/
• SAMPA: /he@/
• AHD: /hâr/

Homophones

• hare

Noun

hair (hairs)

1. A pigmented keratinaceous growth that forms thin spires and grows out from a follicle on the human head.
2. The collection or mass of filaments growing from the skin of humans and animals, and forming a covering for a part of the head or for any part or the whole body.
3. One the above-mentioned filaments, consisting, in vertebrate animals, of a long, tubular part which is free and flexible, and a bulbous root imbedded in the skin.

   Quotations

   • Then read he me how Sampson lost his hairs. - Chaucer
   • And draweth new delights with hoary hairs. - Spenser

4. Hair (human or animal) used for various purposes; as, hair for stuffing cushions.
5. Whiskers, beard; bristles.

   Quotations

   • "Not by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin!" (from the English folktale, "The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf")

6. (zoology) A slender outgrowth from the chitinous cuticle of insects, spiders, crustaceans, and other invertebrates. Such hairs are totally unlike those of vertebrates in structure, composition, and mode of growth.
7. ((botany{{#if:|, {{{2}}}{{#if:|, {{{3}}}{{#if:|, {{{4}}}{{#if:|, {{{5}}}{{#if:|, {{{6}}}{{#if:|, {{{7}}}{{#if:|, {{{8}}}{{#if:|, {{{9}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}})) An outgrowth of the epidermis, consisting of one or of several cells, whether pointed, hooked, knobbed, or stellated. Internal hairs occur in the flower stalk of the yellow frog lily (Nuphar).
8. A spring device used in a hair-trigger firearm.
9. (obsolete): A haircloth. - Chaucer
10. Any very small distance, or degree; a hairbreadth.

Usage

Hair can be a Countable noun and an Uncountable noun

Countable = I found some hairs in my soup

Uncoutable = I'm going to have my hair cut

Translations

Derived expressions

Hair is often used adjectively or in combination; as, hairbrush or hair brush, hair dye, hair oil, hairpin, hair powder, a brush, a dye, etc., for the hair

• Against the hair, (Obsolete): in a rough and disagreeable manner; against the grain

  Quotations

  • You go against the hair of your professions. - Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, II-iii

• Hair bracket, (Ship Carpentry): a molding which comes in at the back of, or runs aft from, the figurehead
• Hair cells, (Anatomy): cells with hairlike processes in the sensory epithelium of certain parts of the internal ear
• Hair compass, Hair divider, a compass or divider capable of delicate adjustment by means of a screw
• Hair glove, a glove of horsehair for rubbing the skin
• Hair lace, a netted fillet for tying up the hair of the head. - Swift
• Hair line, a line made of hair; a very slender line
• Hair moth, (Zoölogy): any moth which destroys goods made of hair, especially Tinea biselliella
• Hair pencil, a brush or fine hair, for painting; -- generally called by the name of the hair used; as, a camel's hair pencil, a sable's hair pencil, etc.
• Hair plate, an iron plate forming the back of the hearth of a bloomery fire
• Hair powder, a white perfumed powder, as of flour or starch, formerly much used for sprinkling on the hair of the head, or on wigs
• Hair seal, (Zoölogy): any one of several species of eared seals which do not produce fur; a sea lion
• Hair seating, haircloth for seats of chairs, etc.
• Hair shirt, a shirt, or a band for the loins, made of horsehair, and worn as a penance.
• Hair sieve, a strainer with a haircloth bottom
• Hair snake. See Gordius
• Hair space, (Printing): the thinnest metal space used in lines of type
• Hair stroke, a delicate stroke in writing
• Hair trigger, a trigger so constructed as to discharge a firearm by a very slight pressure, as by the touch of a hair. - Farrow
• Not worth a hair, of no value
• To a hair, with the nicest distinction
• To split hairs, to make distinctions of useless nicety.

Related terms

• haircut
• hairy
• hirsuteang:hair

es:hair fr:hair ko:hair io:hair it:hair hu:hair ja:hair sr:hair fi:hair ta:hair zh:hair