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.
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.
Botany. a tuft or growth of awns or the like, as on wheat or barley.
a barb or catch on an arrow, fishhook, knitting needle, crochet needle, etc.
Also called bevel neck. Printing.
the sloping part of a type that connects the face with the shoulder of the body.
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.
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.
Charles Austin, 1874–1948, and his wife Mary, 1876–1958, U.S. historians.
Daniel Carter, 1850–1941, U.S. artist and naturalist: organized the Boy Scouts of America in 1910.
James Andrew, 1903–85, U.S. cooking teacher and food writer.
the hair growing on the lower parts of a man's face
any similar growth in animals
a tuft of long hairs in plants such as barley and wheat; awn
the gills of an oyster
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
to oppose boldly or impertinently
to pull or grasp the beard of
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
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.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A plainspoken veteran with a dense beard and a closet full of grimy sweatshirts, Platner fit the bill.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026
"Subconsciously, I didn't want to have natto just dripping from my beard," he said, laughing.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
He has drawn comparisons with El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele for his security policies and even the style of his beard.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
With a tousle of wavy hair, a full beard and a gentle air about him, Sarnoski does not exactly fit into the emerging crop of 20-something filmmakers now taking over Hollywood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
Smithy sighed once again and stroked his beard.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
Beard: I’ve been a fan for a long, long time, probably since “Casper Meets Wendy.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Bûcheron — James Beard Award-winning Bûcheron may have softened my love-hate relationship with French cuisine.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
After more than 100 visits to North Korea, Rowan Beard had come to expect long waits for a taxi under the Kim Jong Un regime.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
Phil Lempert, editor of SupermarketGuru.com, recommends a James Beard Foundation “blended burger” recipe, which uses equal parts portabella mushrooms and ground beef.
From MarketWatch ● May 22, 2026
Blond Beard kept his eyes locked on his phone, but Square Glasses smiled.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
VILSECK, Germany—A line of tattooed, beefed-up men with bushy beards and American accents formed at the bakery in this tiny Bavarian town on a recent May morning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
“A lot of wigs, costumes, beards — fake beards,” David said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2026
A 22-year-old Kabul University student said lecturers "have warned us... that if we don't have a proper Islamic appearance, which includes beards and head covering, they will deduct our marks".
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
Last month, the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said it was now "obligatory" to grow beards longer than a fist, doubling down on an earlier order.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
Ragged beards of ice grew down the spears clasped in their snowy fists.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Other entrants include a trans woman named Ashley Webb and a gloriously bearded Marine vet.
From Slate ● Jul. 16, 2026
The site is home to bird species including bearded tit, avocet, redshank and lapwing.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
The trendy, bearded sports photographer I met for a late-night dinner at Fred 62 in Los Feliz.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
“We’re re-emerging in this kind of new bearded age,” said Sean Trainor, a facial-hair historian whose dissertation “Groomed for Power” examined the underpinnings of the golden age of political beards in the 19th century.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
It was just after three o’clock, and there were no bearded, caftaned men or kerchief-wearing women on the street, but the children were outside, playing, shouting, running.
From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok
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
One can only imagine what Mr. Beale might have done with the character if the script had been more daring in bearding Stalin in his innermost lair.
From New York Times ● Feb. 12, 2012
Indeed, a pop star and a bearding champion had walked into a bar.
From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2011
Gary Grant, whether being intimidated by a collie or bearding a board of examiners, plays to perfection the man who refuses to worry about anyone's opinion but his own.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
