hair
filament that grows from the skin:
Her hair was long and shiny.Not to be confused with:hare – rodent-like mammal having long ears; a rabbit:
The race was like the tortoise and the hare. Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree
hair
(hâr)n.1. a. Any of the cylindrical, keratinized, often pigmented filaments characteristically growing from the epidermis of a mammal.
b. A growth of such filaments, as that forming the coat of an animal or covering the scalp of a human.
2. A filamentous projection or bristle similar to a hair, such as a seta of an arthropod or an epidermal process of a plant.
3. Fabric made from the hair of certain animals: a coat of alpaca hair.
4. a. A minute distance or narrow margin: won by a hair.
b. A precise or exact degree: calibrated to a hair.
[Middle English her, from Old English hǣr.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
hair
(hɛə) n1. (Zoology) any of the threadlike pigmented structures that grow from follicles beneath the skin of mammals and consist of layers of dead keratinized cells
2. (Zoology) a growth of such structures, as on the human head or animal body, which helps prevent heat loss from the body
3. (Botany) botany any threadlike outgrowth from the epidermis, such as a root hair
4. (Textiles)
a. a fabric or material made from the hair of some animals
b. (as modifier): a hair carpet; a hair shirt.
6. get in someone's hair informal to annoy someone persistently
7. hair of the dog hair of the dog that bit one an alcoholic drink taken as an antidote to a hangover
8. keep your hair on! informal Brit keep calm
9. let one's hair down to behave without reserve
10. not turn a hair to show no surprise, anger, fear, etc
11. split hairs to make petty and unnecessary distinctions
[Old English hær; related to Old Norse hār, Old High German hār hair, Norwegian herren stiff, hard, Lettish sari bristles, Latin crescere to grow]
ˈhairˌlike adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
hair
(hɛər)
n. 1. any of the numerous fine, usu. cylindrical, keratinous filaments growing from the skin of mammals; a pilus.
2. an aggregate of such filaments, as that covering the human head or forming the coat of most mammals.
3. any of various fine processes or bristles appearing on the surface of other animals or plants.
5. a very small amount, degree, measure, etc.; a fraction, as of time or space: The rock missed him by a hair.
Idioms: 1. get in someone's hair, to pester or irritate someone.
2. hair of the dog (that bit one), an alcoholic drink purporting to relieve a hangover.
3. let one's hair down, to behave in a relaxed, unrestrained manner.
4. split hairs, to make petty distinctions; nitpick.
5. tear one's hair (out), to manifest extreme anxiety, grief, or anger.
6. turn a hair, to show excitement, fear, or other response (usu. used in the negative): to cut through traffic without turning a hair.
[before 900; Middle English heer, Old English hǣr (c. Old Saxon, Old High German, Old Norse hār)]
hair′less, adj.
hair′less•ness n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
hair
(hâr)1. One of the fine strands that grow from the skin of humans and other mammals. Hair provides insulation against the cold in most mammals. Specialized hairs, such as porcupine quills, provide protection.
2. A slender growth resembling a mammalian hair, found on insects and other animals.
3. Botany A fine, thread-like growth from the outer layer of plants.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Hair
1. a loss of hair, feathers, or wool.
2. baldness. — alopecic, adj.
an abnormal fear of hair.
the state of being hairy. — crinous, adj.
the use of electrolysis for removing moles, warts, or excess hair. — electrologist, n.
1. a condition of shaggy hairiness.
2. Biology. the state of being covered “with long, stiff hairs. — hirsute, adj.
the state or quality of being covered with small spines or bristles. — hispid, adj.
a condition of excessive hairiness either all over the body or covering a particular part.
people with smooth hair; a division of mankind characterized by people with such hair. Cf. Ulotrichi. — Leiotrichan, adj.
the loss of hair, especially of the eyelashes, as a result of disease.
a surgical instrument for pulling out hairs.
darkness or blackness of eyes, hair, or complexion.
an excessive hairiness; furriness. — pilose, adj.
falling out of the hair.
a condition of splitting of the hair.
1. the act or process of cutting the hair, especially as a religious rite or custom.
2. the shaved part of the head, usually the crown, of a member of a religious order. — tonsorial, adj.
a condition in which the hair grows inward, especially the eyelashes.
Medicine. a loss of hair sensibility.
a hairball.
a condition of extreme brittleness of the hair, often following an illness.
Medicine. the scientific study of hair and its diseases. — trichologist, n.
a condition of the hair in which it is matted or crusted.
an obsession with hair.
any disease of the hair caused by a fungus.
Medicine. any disease of the hair. — trichopathic, adj.
the practice of eating hair.
a mania for pinching off one’s hair.
1. Medicine. any disease or abnormal growth of the hair.
2. a heavy growth of hair.
Medicine. an abnormal desire to pull out one’s own hair, especially by delirious patients. Also called trichologia.
people with woolly, tightly curled, or crisp hair; a division of mankind characterized by people with such hair. Cf. Leiotrichi. — ulotrichous, adj.
the condition or quality of being covered with long, soft hairs, as certain plants, or hairlike appendages, as certain of the membranes of the body. — villous, adj.
a person with light-colored hair and fair complexion. — xanthochroid, xanthochroous, adj.
-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Hair
See Also: HAIR COLOR; HAIR, CURLY; HAIR STYLES; HAIR TEXTURE
- The abundance of his hair gives the impression that his head is not fully developed, or with time has shrunk —Wright Morris
- Bangs down over her forehead like a sheepdog’s —Margaret Atwood
- Bangs jitter across her forehead like magnets —Susan Minot
- Bangs … like overcooked bacon —Ann Beattie
- Black hair hung like a river about her shoulders —Helga Sandburg
- Braid of hair … like a thick black snake —Ann Petry
- A crest of stiff white hair, like a prophet or a cockatoo —Ellen Currie
- Golden hair fountaining around her shoulders like spilled beer —Paige Mitchell
- Hair … as smooth and shining as a backbird’s wing —John Braine
- Hair … auburn and abundant, like a well-nourished orangutan’s coat —James Morrow
- Hair … bright and garish as brass —Margaret Millar
- Hair floated around my face like wet gauze —Sue Grafton
- Hair flying like a pennant —Paul Theroux
- Hair foamed around her head like a dandelion cloud —Julia O’Faolain
- Hair [red] … gleaming like the sand streaked with sunset —Marguerite Young
- (Gray) hair grows out of my skin like rot on an ancient tree —Anon Irish verse
- Hair hanging straight as nylon cord —Alfred Gillespie
- Hair … its fine smooth loops, like slabs of snow, hung low on her cheeks —Gustave Flaubert
- Hair like a field in bloom —T. Coraghessan Boyle
- Hair like dry ashes —Maureen Howard
- Hair like metal in the sun —Dorothy Parker
- Hair … like ripe wheat —Nelson Algren
- Hair like spilled barley —T. Coraghessan Boyle
- Hair … like the rumpled wig of a clown —Hallie Burnett
- Hair … moving under her comb like a muscular skin —Gary Gildner
- (Whitish) hair pointy and close as a burr or a sunflower when the seeds have been picked out of it —Saul Bellow
- (The girl’s black curly) hair shone like an eclipsed sun —Carol Ascher
- [Blonde] hair shone like well-polished old silver —F. van Wyck Mason
- (White) hair smooth as a bird’s breast —Raymond Chandler
- Hair spread out like feathers —Jayne Anne Phillips
- Hair … straight and sleek, and lay like black satin against her forehead —Vita Sackville-West
- Hair … thin and white and very short, laid over her skull like a placemat —Helen Hudson
- Hair tumbled about her like a veil —Jean Stafford
- Hair which resembled a horse’s mane … was like filaments of the brightest gold of Araby —Miguel de Cervantes
- Hair which was long and smooth on either side of her face, like the shut wings of a raven —Mary Austin
- Heavy chestnut hair hanging like a cloak about her shoulders —Marge Piercy
- Heavy straight hair swinging behind like a rope —Eudora Welty
- Her hair fell in bright ripples like a rush of gold from the ladle of a goldsmith —Stephen French Whitman
- Her hair burned about her like a molten copper —Maurice Hewlett
In the original simile the hair was ‘aburned.’
- Her hair drooped round her pallid cheeks, like seaweed on a clam —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
- Her hair fell across her shoulders like a nun’s veil —Sue Grafton
- Her hair … ran smooth like black water through her hands —Ross Macdonald
- Her long, dark hair fell across her eyes like stray crayon marks —Joan Hess
- Her long hair hung as straight as rain —Jean Stafford
- Her wet hair lay flat as a second skin —Helen Hudson
- His hair glittered like a skull cap of beads —Miles Gibson
- His hair rose in an unruly swirl, like the topknot of some strange bird —John Yount
- His hair slicks back, like a baby’s or a gangster’s … shiny as a record album —Lorrie Moore
- His hair stood upright like porcupine quills —Boccaccio
- His thin gray hair lay on his scalp like moulting feathers —John Cheever
- A light fringe of hair, almost like frost —Joyce Carol Oates
- A lock of black hair lay on his forehead like a leech —Jean Stafford
- Nearly as hairy as a dog —John Yount
- Peroxide hair like rope ravelings —Paul J. Wellman
- Pomaded hair slicked back like shiny Naugahyde —Paul Kuttner
- The thick black hair of his chest forced its way out of the opening [of his shirt] like a jungle growth seeking sunlight —Harvey Swados
- A thick sprinkling of dandruff, like a fall of flour, on the shoulder of her blouse —Ruth Rendell
- Thick yellow hair … like a palm thatch —Jean Stafford
- Tumbling loose dark hair like a wet mop —George Garrett
- Uncombed hair hung about her face like an old dog’s —H. E. Bates
- Untidy hair like a lion’s mane —Barbara Pym
- The wild hair of his head bloomed like fallen snow —Z. Vance Wilson
- Wisps of hair, like sunburst grass hanging over eyes as clear as pale grey crystals —Edith Wharton
- With his tangled mane and beard, he looked like some ridiculous lion out of a bestiary —Wallace Stegner
- Pale brushed heads like candles burning in the summer sunlight —John Updike
Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
hair
Hair can be a countable noun or an uncountable noun.
1. used as a countable nounEach of the thread-like things growing on your head and body is a hair. You can refer to several of these things as hairs.
These tiny needles are far thinner than a human hair.
There were black hairs on the back of his hands.
2. used as an uncountable nounHowever, don't refer to all the hairs on your head as your 'hairs'. Refer to them as your hair.
I washed my hands and combed my hair.
Brigitte was a young woman with long blonde hair.
Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012