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bald

[bawld]
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adjective
  1. having little or no hair on the scalp: a bald head; a bald person.
  2. destitute of some natural growth or covering: a bald mountain.
  3. lacking detail; bare; plain; unadorned: a bald prose style.
  4. open; undisguised: a bald lie.
  5. Zoology. having white on the head: the bald eagle.
  6. Automotive. (of a tire) having the tread completely worn away.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to become bald.
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noun
  1. (often initial capital letter) Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. a treeless mountaintop or area near the top: often used as part of a proper name.
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Origin of bald

1250–1300; Middle English ball(e)d, equivalent to ball white spot (compare Welsh bal, Greek phaliós having a white spot) + -ed -ed3
Related formsbald·ish, adjectivebald·ly, adverbbald·ness, nounhalf-bald, adjectivesem·i·bald, adjectivesem·i·bald·ly, adverbsem·i·bald·ness, noun
Can be confusedbald balled bawled

Synonyms

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4. bare, barefaced, flagrant, patent, utter, out-and-out, downright, flat-out.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for bald

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • He was short and fat and bald, with little eyes, but with a look like an eagle.

  • Such is a brief and bald account of the most famous of these pirates.

  • The offspring of a liaison between a bald head and a bank account.

  • There was the Bald'in, stand-by old and good as bread; and there were all the rest.

    Meadow Grass

    Alice Brown

  • Her house, with all its show of luxury, still had its bald spots.

    His Masterpiece

    Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for bald

bald

adjective
  1. having no hair or fur, esp (of a man) having no hair on all or most of the scalp
  2. lacking natural growth or covering
  3. plain or blunta bald statement
  4. bare or simple; unadorned
  5. Also: baldfaced (of certain birds and other animals) having white markings on the head and face
  6. (of a tyre) having a worn tread
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Derived Formsbaldish, adjectivebaldly, adverbbaldness, noun

Word Origin

C14 ballede (literally: having a white spot); related to Danish bǣldet, Greek phalaros having a white spot
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

Word Origin and History for bald

adj.

c.1300, ballede, probably, with Middle English -ede adjectival suffix + Celtic bal "white patch, blaze" especially on the head of a horse or other animal (from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, gleam;" see bleach (v.)). Cf., from the same root, Sanskrit bhalam "brightness, forehead," Greek phalos "white," Latin fulcia "coot" (so called for the white patch on its head), Albanian bale "forehead." But connection with ball (n.1), on notion of "smooth, round" also has been suggested. Bald eagle first attested 1680s; so called for its white head.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
bald in Medicine

bald

(bôld)
adj.
  1. Lacking hair on the head.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.