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hair
[ hair ]
noun
- any of the numerous fine, usually cylindrical, keratinous filaments growing from the skin of humans and animals; a pilus.
- an aggregate of such filaments, as that covering the human head or forming the coat of most mammals.
- a similar fine, filamentous outgrowth from the body of insects, spiders, etc.
- Botany. a filamentous outgrowth of the epidermis.
- cloth made of hair from animals, as camel and alpaca.
- a very small amount, degree, measure, magnitude, etc.; a fraction, as of time or space:
He lost the race by a hair.
hair
/ ɛə /
noun
- any of the threadlike pigmented structures that grow from follicles beneath the skin of mammals and consist of layers of dead keratinized cells
- a growth of such structures, as on the human head or animal body, which helps prevent heat loss from the body
- botany any threadlike outgrowth from the epidermis, such as a root hair
- a fabric or material made from the hair of some animals
- ( as modifier )
a hair shirt
a hair carpet
- another word for hair's-breadth
to lose by a hair
- get in someone's hair informal.to annoy someone persistently
- hair of the dog or hair of the dog that bit onean alcoholic drink taken as an antidote to a hangover
- keep your hair on! informal.keep calm
- let one's hair downto behave without reserve
- not turn a hairto show no surprise, anger, fear, etc
- split hairsto make petty and unnecessary distinctions
hair
- One of the fine strands that grow from the skin of mammals, usually providing insulation against the cold. Modified hairs sometimes serve as protective defenses, as in the quills of a porcupine or hedgehog, or as tactile organs, as in the whiskers (called vibrissae ) of many nocturnal mammals. Hair filaments are a modification of the epidermis of the skin and are composed primarily of keratin. Hair also contains melanin, which determines hair color.
- A slender growth resembling a mammalian hair, found on insects and other animals.
- A fine, threadlike growth from the epidermis of plants.
- See more at trichome
Derived Forms
- ˈˌ, adjective
Other Word Forms
- · adjective
- · verb (used with object)
Word History and Origins
Origin of hair1
Word History and Origins
Origin of hair1
Idioms and Phrases
- get in someone's hair, Slang. to annoy or bother someone:
Their snobbishness gets in my hair.
- hair of the dog, Informal. a drink of liquor, supposed to relieve a hangover: Also hair of the dog that bit one.
Even a hair of the dog didn't help his aching head.
- let one's hair down, Informal.
- to relax; behave informally:
He finally let his hair down and actually cracked a joke.
- to speak candidly or frankly; remove or reduce restraints:
He let his hair down and told them about his anxieties.
- make one's hair stand on end, to strike or fill with horror; terrify:
The tales of the jungle made our hair stand on end.
- split hairs, to make unnecessarily fine or petty distinctions:
To argue about whether they arrived at two o'clock or at 2:01 is just splitting hairs.
- tear one's hair, to manifest extreme anxiety, grief, or anger: Also tear one's hair out.
He's tearing his hair over the way he was treated by them.
- to a hair, perfect to the smallest detail; exactly:
The reproduction matched the original to a hair.
- without turning a hair, without showing the least excitement or emotion. Also not turn a hair.
More idioms and phrases containing hair
- bad hair day
- by a hair
- by the short hairs
- fair-haired boy
- get gray hair from
- hang by a thread (hair)
- hide or hair
- in someone's hair
- let one's hair down
- make one's hair stand on end
- put lead in one's pencil (hair on one's chest)
- split hairs
- tear one's hair
- turn a hair
Example Sentences
Twelve hairs were found on it, but they were compared to those taken from suspects in another case.
He stands at 6ft2in, has a stocky build and grey hair and was last seen wearing a long black trench coat, grey trousers and waistcoat, blue shirt, brown shoes and a red and white tie.
The priest, she told the magazine, "grabbed me by the hair, dragged me across the floor for several metres, then punched and kicked me all over, especially in the stomach," she the told magazine.
“Filth are my politics, flith is my life,” Wilson mugs for the camera, flipping her hair and putting her hands on her hips.
“They can see this hair trigger mentality in the White House. Everybody is afraid.”
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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