beard
noun
a thick growth of hair on the face, especially on an adult man, often including a mustache.
beard
1 American
[beerd]
/ bɪərd /
noun
-
beards
plural
-
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.
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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.
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Botany. a tuft or growth of awns or the like, as on wheat or barley.
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a barb or catch on an arrow, fishhook, knitting needle, crochet needle, etc.
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Also called bevel neck. Printing.
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the sloping part of a type that connects the face with the shoulder of the body.
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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.
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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.
verb (used with object)
-
beards,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bearded,
past participle, past
-
bearding
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
beards,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bearded,
past participle, past
-
bearding
present participle
Beard
2
American
[beerd]
/ bɪərd /
noun
-
Charles Austin, 1874–1948, and his wife Mary, 1876–1958, U.S. historians.
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Daniel Carter, 1850–1941, U.S. artist and naturalist: organized the Boy Scouts of America in 1910.
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James Andrew, 1903–85, U.S. cooking teacher and food writer.
beard
British
/ bɪəd /
noun
-
the hair growing on the lower parts of a man's face
-
any similar growth in animals
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a tuft of long hairs in plants such as barley and wheat; awn
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the gills of an oyster
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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
verb
-
to oppose boldly or impertinently
-
to pull or grasp the beard of
beard
Scientific
/ bîrd /
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
beardsimple
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beardssimple
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have beardedperfect
-
has beardedperfect
-
am beardingprogressive
-
are beardingprogressive
-
is beardingprogressive
-
have been beardingperfect progressive
-
has been beardingperfect progressive
Past
-
beardedsimple
-
had beardedperfect
-
was beardingprogressive
-
were beardingprogressive
-
had been beardingperfect progressive
Future
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
Explanation
A beard is the facial hair on a person's chin and cheeks. Santa Claus is famous in part for his long, white beard. You're most likely to see a beard on an adult man, although some women grow enough facial hair to sport a beard too. Some animals, like goats, have beards as well. Someone whose presence helps another person disguise his identity — maybe because he's a spy — is often informally called a beard as well.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Outwardly, Kenig, with a sharp-featured face and salt-and-pepper beard, does not reveal his inner wounds.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
Ted: “. . .I mean, really, this isn’t really a beard yet.”
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
Zaidi, who dresses in dark blue suits and has a bushy black mustache and cropped beard, was quickly embraced by Washington.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
But later that year he apologised for a costume he wore which included a black wig, beard and a fake hooked nose, which critics said was antisemitic.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
It was a tall, skinny guy with a big, bushy beard.
From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth
Beard said she's looking to partner with a gallery in order to display her latest collection.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
Makenzy Beard discovered her talent for painting during the Covid lockdown after she decided to try out her mother's old paint brushes in the garden shed.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
Smith, who still reminds me of Coach Beard in “Ted Lasso,” explained that his prosecution wasn’t politically inspired.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
Belinda Chang, a James Beard Award-winning sommelier in Chicago, said she has been approached by business school students and financial executives to lead workshops on how to navigate wine lists in corporate settings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
“Come on, we’re going to Beard Papa’s. We’ll bring stuff back. Ben, you coming?”
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
This may explain why he has no problem when white men have beards, as seen on his church leader, Doug Wilson, or the many celebrities the defense secretary likes to take photos with.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
I wasn’t surprised to learn the two men were close friends; they even look alike, with their long white beards and sparkling eyes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
In an earlier era, George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees, forbade his players to wear their hair long or have beards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
In the frosty air, with their starchy beards and extravagant ear tufts, they looked magisterial.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026
“I agree,” said a very serious-looking man with one of those beards that Fred thought made people look like schnauzers.
From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein
"There was heavy fighting," said Tawfiq Al Haboun, a bearded commander in camouflage uniform.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
That’s his superpower: He’s a bearded human worm.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
The DJ, producer and founder of the longtime L.A. record label Stones Throw, who performs as Peanut Butter Wolf, was looking after his daughter’s bearded dragon, Sweet Pea, for the afternoon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Owners of a home in New York transformed it into a $2.9 million luxury retreat for their bearded collie named Buster.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
The magistrate was skinny under his coat, balding but bearded, and the skin on his face was yellowy and pockmarked.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
Some say this bearding trend began with the 1980s television series “Miami Vice,” wherein the actor Don Johnson sported a 5-o’clock shadow that was much commented on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
There’s talk of bearding dragons in their den and of forthcoming battles, plus a rather lovely foray into a deep cave system.
From The Guardian ● May 11, 2016
John Buckler, 31, from Lansing, Mich., likened the bearding community to a social club.
From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2011
Indeed, a pop star and a bearding champion had walked into a bar.
From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2011
The grey moss grew thickly here, covering the fallen stones in great mounds and bearding all the towers.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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