Beard

¹

[beerd]

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.

beard

²

[beerd]

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.

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

/ 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

verb

1. to oppose boldly or impertinently

2. to pull or grasp the beard of

beard

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.

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of beard¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of beard¹

Old English beard ; related to Old Norse barth , Old High German bart , Latin barba

Example Sentences

From beard oil to body wash, companies are ramping up their messaging and speaking directly to male consumers in more fun and frank ways.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

So, ever the unconventional philosopher, Therrien made real false beards that embody the essence of that.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Even more mysteriously, it bares the faint image of a bearded man that some Christians believe provides physical evidence of Jesus’ resurrection.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The president studies his guest, noting his kind, steely brown eyes and neatly trimmed beard.

Read more on Salon

His eyes are shut, and his beard is half orange and half white.

Read more on Barron's