cowlick
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of cowlick
Explanation
A cowlick is a hunk of hair that sticks up, even when you comb it down, even when you smother it in hair gel. It looks like a cow licked your hair in one spot. A cowlick can drive you crazy because it can’t be tamed! You can comb and comb a cowlick, but it just won’t stay down. A cowlick can show up anywhere on your head, like a little sprig shooting up from the back or a lonely wave in the front. Since most cowlicks are reoccurring, it’s best just to go with it. When a mama cow licks her baby, her tongue makes a little swirl in the fur, hence the name cowlick.
Vocabulary lists containing cowlick
Shear Genius: Hairy Vocabulary
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Unit 4: Powerful Openings
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Little Fires Everywhere
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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.
You might be surprised to learn that you can’t comb the hairs flat on a coconut without creating a cowlick.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 18, 2023
Jones is an odd strain of rebel — not a slick James Dean clone, but a cowlick that can’t help doing its own thing.
From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2022
Pratik accosted her afterward, smashing his cowlick back.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2019
His hair swirled out from his cowlick like a fingerprint, as if it were intended, as if it were someone’s design.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 11, 2017
His hair had a cowlick on one side and his new glasses sat crookedly on his nose.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
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.
