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
Craig is no different, his hair slicked down in a way that suggests he’s in daily battle with a cowlick.
From Slate ● May 16, 2021
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
“Nobody would take you seriously with a cowlick named Geronimo.”
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
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.
