beard
a thick growth of hair on the face, especially on an adult man, often including a mustache: He's been growing out his beard for a couple of months, and it's filling in nicely.
Zoology. a tuft, growth, or part resembling or suggesting the thick growth of hair on the human face, such as the tuft of long hairs on the lower jaw of a goat or the cluster of hairlike feathers at the base of the bill in certain birds.
Botany. a tuft or growth of awns or the like, as on wheat or barley.
a barb or catch on an arrow, fishhook, knitting needle, crochet needle, etc.
Also called bev·el neck [bev-uhl nek] /ˈbɛv əl ˌnɛk/ .Printing.
the sloping part of a type that connects the face with the shoulder of the body.
British. the space on a type between the bottom of the face of an x-high character and the edge of the body, comprising both beard and shoulder.
the cross stroke on the stem of a capital G.
Slang. a romantic partner chosen to conceal a person's sexual orientation, especially that of a gay or lesbian person.
to oppose boldly; defy: It took courage for the mayor to beard the pressure groups.
to seize, pluck, or pull the beard of: The hoodlums bearded the old man.
to supply with a beard.
Slang. to act as a romantic partner to someone in order to conceal their sexual orientation, especially that of a gay or lesbian person.
Origin of beard
1Other words for beard
Opposites for beard
Other words from beard
- beard·like, adjective
- un·beard, verb (used with object)
Other definitions for Beard (2 of 2)
Charles Austin, 1874–1948, and his wife Mary, 1876–1958, U.S. historians.
Daniel Carter, 1850–1941, U.S. artist and naturalist: organized the Boy Scouts of America in 1910.
James Andrew, 1903–85, U.S. cooking teacher and food writer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use beard in a sentence
Have you met the lumbersexual: all beards, flannel shirts, and work boots?
How Straight World Stole ‘Gay’: The Last Gasp of the ‘Lumbersexual’ | Tim Teeman | November 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut behold, DiCaprio, whose volcanic growth of furze is surely proof that the vogue for beards needs to be trimmed back.
Leo, the Beard Has to Go: When a Man’s Facial Hair Reaches Crisis Point | Tim Teeman | September 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThere have been certain exceptions, but the policy is tilted heavily to excluding Sikhs because of their beards and turbans.
In fact, Sikhs are even discriminated against when applying to join the NYPD because of their turbans and beards.
Civilian computer techs and other workers sport beards, ball caps, and tactical cargo pants mimicking the special operator look.
How I’ll End the War: My First Week Back in Afghanistan | Nick Willard | May 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
And priests sit in their temples, having their garments rent, and their heads and beards shaven, and nothing upon their heads.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousThou shaltBehold joy reign in cities and in towns,Old age and youth alike contented dwell,And undulating beards of two spans long!
The Poems of Giacomo Leopardi | Giacomo LeopardiThe two handsome lads had cut their hair; but they had neither cut their lips nor pulled their beards.
Journal of a Voyage to Brazil | Maria GrahamOther traditional accounts of them similarly speak of their long beards, though Stanley saw none answering to this description.
Man And His Ancestor | Charles MorrisThe strangers were men of middle age, with thick, grizzled beards and sunbrowned faces.
Gold-Seeking on the Dalton Trail | Arthur R. Thompson
British Dictionary definitions for beard
/ (bɪəd) /
the hair growing on the lower parts of a man's face
any similar growth in animals
a tuft of long hairs in plants such as barley and wheat; awn
the gills of an oyster
a barb, as on an arrow or fish-hook
slang a woman who accompanies a homosexual man to give the impression that he is heterosexual
printing the part of a piece of type that connects the face with the shoulder
to oppose boldly or impertinently
to pull or grasp the beard of
Origin of beard
1Derived forms of beard
- bearded, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for beard
[ bîrd ]
A tuft or group of hairs or bristles on certain plants, such as barley and wheat. The individual strands of a beard are attached to a sepal or petal.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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