Home / Dictionary / Hair

Hair Very Common

Hair has 9 different meanings across 2 categories:

Noun · Proper Noun

Definitions
Noun
1

a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss

"he combed his hair"

"each hair consists of layers of dead keratinized cells"

2

a very small distance or space

"they escaped by a hair's-breadth"

"they lost the election by a whisker"

3

filamentous hairlike growth on a plant

"peach fuzz"

4

any of the cylindrical filaments characteristically growing from the epidermis of a mammal

"there is a hair in my soup"

5

cloth woven from horsehair or camelhair; used for upholstery or stiffening in garments

"The antique furniture maker ordered a roll of durable hair to reinforce the seat cushions before reupholstering them."

6

a filamentous projection or process on an organism

"The barnacle attached itself to the rough, hair-like projections on the crab's shell for protection."

7

A pigmented filament of keratin which grows from a follicle on the skin of humans and other mammals.

"She gently combed out the tangled hair that had grown over her eyebrow since childhood."

In plain English: Hair is the fine thread-like covering that grows on your head, arms, legs, and other parts of your body.

"She brushed her long hair before going out."

Usage: Use "hair" to refer to individual strands growing from your scalp or body, or collectively to describe this covering on mammals. Do not confuse it with "wool," which specifically denotes the coarse hair found on sheep and some other animals.

Verb
1

To remove the hair from.

"She spent an hour at the salon getting her eyebrows waxed to remove the unwanted hair between them."

In plain English: To hair something means to cover its surface with short, stiff bristles or fibers.

"She decided to get her hair cut at the local salon."

Usage: As a verb, hair means to cover a surface with short, stiff fibers or bristles rather than removing them. You would correctly use it when describing how someone applies bristles to a broom or brushes to a hat.

Proper Noun
1

A surname​.

"My neighbor Mr. Hair is moving to the city next week."

Example Sentences
"She brushed her long hair before going out." noun
"The barber cut my hair very short today." noun
"She brushed her long hair before going to bed." noun
"Dust seemed to float in the air around his gray hair." noun
"She decided to get her hair cut at the local salon." verb
Related Terms
wool beard flea doll mane wig head fur blonde whisker wax mousse sheep condition brush pileous allochromasia trichorhinophalangeal backcomb madisterium
Broader Terms (hypernyms)
Narrower Terms (hyponyms)

Origin

The word hair comes from the Old English hǣr and traces its roots back to a Proto-Indo-European term meaning "to scrape" or "comb." It entered Middle English as her before becoming the modern word we use today.

Rhyming Words
Compare
Hair vs