Beard

¹ American  

[beerd] / bɪərd /

noun

1. Charles Austin, 1874–1948, and his wife Mary, 1876–1958, U.S. historians.

2. Daniel Carter, 1850–1941, U.S. artist and naturalist: organized the Boy Scouts of America in 1910.

3. James Andrew, 1903–85, U.S. cooking teacher and food writer.

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beard ² American  

[beerd] / bɪərd /

noun

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. Botany. a tuft or growth of awns or the like, as on wheat or barley.

4. a barb or catch on an arrow, fishhook, knitting needle, crochet needle, etc.

5. Also called bevel neck.  Printing.

   1. the sloping part of a type that connects the face with the shoulder of the body.

   2. 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.

   3. the cross stroke on the stem of a capital G.

6. Slang. a romantic partner chosen to conceal a person's sexual orientation, especially that of a gay or lesbian person.

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verb (used with object)

1. to oppose boldly; defy.

   It took courage for the mayor to beard the pressure groups.

   Synonyms:

   face, dare, brave, confront

   Antonyms:

   dodge, avoid

2. to seize, pluck, or pull the beard of.

   The hoodlums bearded the old man.

3. to supply with a beard.

verb (used without object)

1. Slang. to act as a romantic partner to someone in order to conceal their sexual orientation, especially that of a gay or lesbian person.

beard British  

/ bɪəd /

noun

1. the hair growing on the lower parts of a man's face

2. any similar growth in animals

3. a tuft of long hairs in plants such as barley and wheat; awn

4. the gills of an oyster

5. a barb, as on an arrow or fish-hook

6. slang a woman who accompanies a homosexual man to give the impression that he is heterosexual

7. printing the part of a piece of type that connects the face with the shoulder

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verb

1. to oppose boldly or impertinently

2. to pull or grasp the beard of

beard Scientific  

/ bîrd /

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

• bearded adjective
• beardlike adjective
• unbeard verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of beard

First recorded before 900; Middle English berd, Old English beard; cognate with Dutch baard, German Bart, Late Latin Langobardi “Long-beards (name of the Lombards),” Crimean Gothic bars; akin to Latin barba, Lithuanian barzdà, Old Church Slavonic brada, Russian borodá

Example Sentences

Ansari has a booming voice, a fashionable buzz cut and a meticulously maintained beard.

From Los Angeles Times

Sometimes, while Sam watched, his daddy stood in the bathroom and shaved carefully around his beard.

From Literature

It was round and bald and had a black patch over one eye, a scruffy beard and a three-cornered hat.

From Literature

Aunt Pretty held up a doll that had a grizzled-fur beard and stuffing around the middle.

From Literature

"Have you been getting enough sleep?" he asked, rubbing his bearded chin in puzzlement.

From Literature