Hair in a zero-gravity situation.
See also haïr
English
Etymology
Middle English hēr, heer, hær, from Old English hǣr , from Proto-Germanic *xēran (cf. West Frisian [[hier#Template:Fy|hier]], Dutch/German haar, Swedish hår), from Proto-Indo-European *keres- 'rough hair, bristle' (cf. Template:Mga [[carrach#Template:Mga|carrach]] 'scurfy, mangy', Lithuanian šeryš 'bristle, animal hair', Template:Ru šerstĭ 'wool', Sanskrit kapucchala 'napehair, shorthairs').
Pronunciation
- enPR: hâr, IPA: /heə/, /heɹ/, SAMPA: /he@/
Audio (US) noicon (file) Audio (UK) noicon (file) - Homophones: hare
Noun
|
Singular |
Plural |
Hair (s) (but usually in singular)
- (countable, uncountable) A pigmented keratinaceous growth that forms thin spires and grows out from a follicle on the human head, or the collection of them.
- Then read he me how Sampson lost his hairs. - Geoffrey Chaucer
- And draweth new delights with hoary hairs. - Edmund Spenser
- She said she couldn't go out with me Friday - she had to wash her hair.
- (uncountable) 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.
- The hair on a bear makes a warm fur coat.
- (zoology, countable) 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.
- (botany, countable) A cellular 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).
- (obsolete) A haircloth. - Geoffrey Chaucer
- (countable) Any very small distance, or degree; a hairbreadth.
- Just a little louder please - turn that knob a hair to the right.
Usage notes
The word hair is usually used without article in singular number when it refers to all the hairs on one's head in general. But if it refers to a single hair, it takes the indefinite article (a hair), or if it refers to more than one hair, a few hairs, then it takes the plural form without an article, and needs a plural verb.
- George has (-) brown hair, but I found a hair on the sofa and suspect he's getting some gray hairs.
- George's hair is brown, but one hair I found was grey, so I think there are probably more grey hairs on his head as well.
Derived terms
Template:Der-top
- against the hair
- bad hair day
- bed hair
- facial hair
- fair-haired
- get in somebody's hair
- hair bracket
- hairbreadth, hairsbreadth
- hair brush, hairbrush
- haircare, hair care
- hair cells
- haircut
- hairdo
- hairdresser
- hair dryer
| width=1% | | bgcolor="#F8F8FF" valign=top width=24%|
- hair dye
- hair gel
- hair glove
- hair lace
- hairless
- hair line, hairline
- hair moss
- hair moth
- hairnet
- hair of the dog
- hair pencil
- hairpiece
- hairpin
- hair plate
- hair powder
| width=1% | | bgcolor="#F8F8FF" valign=top width=24%|
- hair-raising
- hair seal
- hair seating
- hair shirt
- hair sieve
- hair snake
- hair space
- hairspray, hair spray
- hair stroke
- hairstyle
- hair-trigger
- hairy
- head of hair
- hide nor hair, neither hide nor hair
- horsehair
| width=1% | | bgcolor="#F8F8FF" valign=top width=24%|
- keep your hair on
- let one's hair down
- make somebody's hair curl
- make somebody's hair stand on end
- not turn a hair
- not worth a hair
- part one's hair
- pubic hair
- put hair on somebody's chest
- split hairs
- tear one's hair out
- to a hair
Template:Der-bottom
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
- Quotations
- 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, (Zoology): 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, (Zoology): 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
- hirsute
Translations
a pigmented keratinaceous growth on the human head
|
|
the collection or mass of filaments growing from the skin of humans and animals
|
|
One the above-mentioned filaments
|
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
|
|
Anagrams
- ahir,
- Hira
- riah
ang:hair ar:hair zh-min-nan:hair ca:hair de:hair et:hair el:hair es:hair fa:hair fr:hair ko:hair hy:hair hi:hair hr:hair io:hair id:hair it:hair kn:hair kk:hair sw:hair ku:hair lo:hair lt:hair li:hair hu:hair ml:hair my:hair nl:hair ja:hair no:hair pl:hair ru:hair simple:hair sr:hair fi:hair sv:hair tl:hair ta:hair te:hair th:hair tr:hair uk:hair vi:hair zh:hair