noun
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the act or an instance of cutting the hair
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the style in which hair has been cut
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slang stock exchange a percentage of the value of an asset deducted to account for a possible fall in its value before it can be liquidated
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of haircut
Explanation
A haircut is what a barber does when he trims your hair with scissors. You might decide it's time for a haircut when your bangs are hanging in your eyes. Some people go to fancy salons for a haircut, while others visit a barber or trust a friend to give them a haircut. You can call the resulting style — the layered sides or shaved neck — a haircut too. If your haircut is striking or unusual, like a spiky purple Mohawk, you'll probably get lots of comments and admiring glances. The haircut is believed to date from A.U.C. 454, in ancient Rome.
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.
If Congress imposes an across-the-board reduction, the haircut applies to whatever benefit you’re already drawing.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 10, 2026
Her viral “SNL” sketch “Haircut” — in which Padilla goes to dinner with friends, disturbing them with her atrocious haircut — was created at Groundlings, where it killed.
From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2026
In 2023, he told the BBC a mole discovered by his barber during a haircut after a lockdown restriction was found to be malignant melanoma.
From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026
Another video posted this week included Burger King employees reading off messages critiquing the chain’s app, employees and even Curtis’s haircut.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 7, 2026
“Have you booked a haircut yet?” she asks.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
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.
