Library / English Dictionary |
HAIR
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A filamentous projection or process on an organism
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("hair" is a kind of...):
appendage; outgrowth; process (a natural prolongation or projection from a part of an organism either animal or plant)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hair"):
bristle (a stiff hair)
sensory hair; vibrissa; whisker (a long stiff hair growing from the snout or brow of most mammals as e.g. a cat)
seta (a stiff hair or bristle)
pilus (hairlike structure especially on the surface of a cell or microorganism)
Derivation:
hairy (having or covered with hair)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Cloth woven from horsehair or camelhair; used for upholstery or stiffening in garments
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("hair" is a kind of...):
cloth; fabric; material; textile (artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Any of the cylindrical filaments characteristically growing from the epidermis of a mammal
Example:
there is a hair in my soup
Synonyms:
hair; pilus
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("hair" is a kind of...):
filament; filum (a threadlike structure (as a chainlike series of cells))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hair"):
ingrown hair (a hair that does not emerge from the follicle but remains embedded in the skin (usually causing inflammation))
Holonyms ("hair" is a part of...):
mammal; mammalian (any warm-blooded vertebrate having the skin more or less covered with hair; young are born alive except for the small subclass of monotremes and nourished with milk)
Sense 4
Meaning:
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
Example:
each hair consists of layers of dead keratinized cells
Classified under:
Nouns denoting body parts
Hypernyms ("hair" is a kind of...):
body covering (any covering for the body or a body part)
Meronyms (parts of "hair"):
root (the embedded part of a bodily structure such as a tooth, nail, or hair)
part; parting (a line of scalp that can be seen when sections of hair are combed in opposite directions)
hairline (the natural margin formed by hair on the head)
Meronyms (substance of "hair"):
ceratin; keratin (a fibrous scleroprotein that occurs in the outer layer of the skin and in horny tissues such as hair, feathers, nails, and hooves)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hair"):
cilium; eyelash; lash (any of the short curved hairs that grow from the edges of the eyelids)
brow; eyebrow; supercilium (the arch of hair above each eye)
bush; crotch hair; pubic hair (hair growing in the pubic area)
facial hair (hair on the face (especially on the face of a man))
curl; lock; ringlet; whorl (a strand or cluster of hair)
coif; coiffure; hair style; hairdo; hairstyle (the arrangement of the hair (especially a woman's hair))
cowlick (a tuft of hair that grows in a different direction from the rest of the hair and usually will not lie flat)
head of hair; mane (growth of hair covering the scalp of a human being)
down; pile (fine soft dense hair (as the fine short hair of cattle or deer or the wool of sheep or the undercoat of certain dogs))
body hair (short hair growing over a person's body)
beard (hairy growth on or near the face of certain mammals)
forelock; foretop (a lock of a horse's mane that grows forward between the ears)
mane (long coarse hair growing from the crest of the animal's neck)
guard hair (coarse hairs that form the outer fur and protect the underfur of certain mammals)
coat; pelage (growth of hair or wool or fur covering the body of an animal)
Holonyms ("hair" is a part of...):
integumentary system (the skin and its appendages)
Derivation:
hairy (having or covered with hair)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Filamentous hairlike growth on a plant
Example:
peach fuzz
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("hair" is a kind of...):
enation; plant process (a natural projection or outgrowth from a plant body or organ)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hair"):
stinging hair (a multicellular hair in plants like the stinging nettle that expels an irritating fluid)
beard (a tuft or growth of hairs or bristles on certain plants such as iris or grasses)
Sense 6
Meaning:
A very small distance or space
Example:
they lost the election by a whisker
Synonyms:
hair; hair's-breadth; hairsbreadth; whisker
Classified under:
Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure
Hypernyms ("hair" is a kind of...):
small indefinite amount; small indefinite quantity (an indefinite quantity that is below average size or magnitude)
Context examples:
The she-wolf stood over against her cub, facing the men, with bristling hair, a snarl rumbling deep in her throat.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Therefore she did as she was told, and did it with such nervous hands that her hair (which was luxuriant and beautiful) fell all about her face.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Strange to say, there were hairs in the centre of the palm.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
He was all but naked, a ragged and fire-scorched skin hanging part way down his back, but on his body there was much hair.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
A benign neoplasm characterized by the presence of spindle-shaped fibroblasts surrounding the hair follicle.
(Perifollicular Fibroma, NCI Thesaurus)
Infestation of the pubic hair by the pthirus pubis parasite which results in mild to intense itching and macular lesions.
(Pediculosis Pubis, NCI Thesaurus)
It presents with multiple symmetrical hypopigmented or depigmented patches of skin and a midline patch of white hair.
(Piebaldism, NCI Thesaurus)
As he hung over the coffin, his face was concealed by long locks of ragged hair; but one vast hand was extended, in colour and apparent texture like that of a mummy.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
Our client smoothed down his unbrushed hair and felt his unshaven chin.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was but for one minute that I saw him, but the hair stood upon my head like quills.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)