hair follicle

American  

noun

Anatomy.

1. a small cavity in the epidermis and corium of the skin, from which a hair develops.

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hair follicle British  

noun

1. a narrow tubular cavity that contains the root of a hair, formed by an infolding of the epidermis and corium of the skin

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Etymology

Origin of hair follicle

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hair follicle

“And I think everyone’s universally saying there a lot of different kinds of decisions we do not want part of our game. Toenail offsides, hair follicle arguments.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

But Tsuji says his study identified a "novel third cell type", called a hair follicle regenerative-supporting cell.

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026

As of right now, dermatologists don’t know the root cause of FAPD, though they believe it might show up in midlife due to a decline in estrogen, which protects against hair follicle inflammation.

From Slate ● May 23, 2026

To do that, these hair follicle stem cells first enter a pliable state in which they temporarily express the transcription factors of both types of stem cells, hair and epidermis.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 7, 2024

Had he known that every boil owed its origin to pus bacteria, which had infected a sweat gland or hair follicle, the treatment would probably have been more efficacious.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 810, July 11, 1891 by Various