scalp

[ skalp ]

/ skælp /

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See synonyms for: scalp / scalped / scalping on Thesaurus.com

noun

the integument of the upper part of the head, usually including the associated subcutaneous structures.

a part of this integument with the accompanying hair, severed from the head of an enemy as a sign of victory, as by some North American Indians and others during the colonial and frontier periods in the U.S.

any token of victory.

the integument on the top of the head of an animal.

Informal. a small profit made in quick buying and selling.

verb (used with object)

to cut or tear the scalp from.

Informal.

to resell (tickets, merchandise, etc.) at higher than the official rates.
to buy and sell (stocks) so as to make small quick profits.

to plane down the surfaces of (an ingot, billet, or slab).

verb (used without object)

Informal. to scalp tickets, stocks, or the like.

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Origin of scalp

1250–1300; Middle English (north) (noun), perhaps <Old Norse skālpr sheath (hence, metaphorically a covering)

OTHER WORDS FROM scalp

scalper, nounscalpless, adjective

Words nearby scalp

scalloping, scally, scallywag, scalogram, scaloppine, scalp, scalpel, scalping, scalp lock, scalpriform, scalprum

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for scalp

A little chemical burn was better than a scalp full of gray.
Some young women embraced their gray hair during the pandemic. They might not go back.|Maura Judkis|April 12, 2021|Washington Post
We can either hold the neuromodulation tool outside your scalp, or implant a tool inside your head, and we’re going to fix that circuit.
Three visions of the future, inspired by neuroscience’s past and present|Laura Sanders|March 3, 2021|Science News
On average, humans lose between 50-150 scalp hairs each day.
Birth Control Made My Hair Fall Out, and I’m Not the Only One|Molly Oswaks|October 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Al Pacino comes dressed in black and gray, wearing multiple bracelets and an unkempt tuft of hair poking up from his scalp.
Al Pacino Does What He Wants to Do: 'The Humbling,' Scorsese, and That 'Scarface' Remake|Alex Suskind|September 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST

You see people in war paint or doing the tomahawk chop and saying, “Scalp him.”
Amanda Blackhorse Is ‘Confident’ Snyder Will Lose His Redskins Appeal|Robert Silverman|June 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Shivering, she sat up in bed and ran a hand across her scalp.
Read ‘The Winds of Winter,’ George R.R. Martin's New 'Game of Thrones' Chapter|Culture Team|March 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Feel your scalp tingle as my voice gently surprises you from behind.
ASMR and the Rise of the Whisper Fetish|Aurora Snow|December 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And a rampant ache in my head, seconded by a medium-sized gash in the scalp, didn't make for an access of optimism at that moment.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
He had not only been shot through the arm, the arm he had stretched forth to seize the flag, but had also received a scalp wound.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn
She was working on a chunk of marble and she had the forehead and general scalp contours almost completed.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
It produces yellowish crusts about the hairs of the scalp and other parts of the body, and it destroys the hair.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine|Austin Malley
It is one of the most difficult of the scalp-diseases to cure; months and sometimes years are required to get rid of it.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine|Austin Malley

British Dictionary definitions for scalp

scalp

/ (skælp) /

noun

anatomy the skin and subcutaneous tissue covering the top of the head

(among North American Indians) a part of this removed as a trophy from a slain enemy

a trophy or token signifying conquest

hunting, mainly US a piece of hide cut from the head of a victim as a trophy or as proof of killing in order to collect a bounty

informal, mainly US a small speculative profit taken in quick transactions

Scot dialect a projection of bare rock from vegetation

verb (tr)

to cut the scalp from

informal, mainly US to purchase and resell (securities) quickly so as to make several small profits

informal to buy (tickets) cheaply and resell at an inflated price

Derived forms of scalp

scalper, noun

Word Origin for scalp

C13: probably from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse skalpr sheath, Middle Dutch schelpe, Danish skalp husk

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for scalp

scalp

[ skălp ]

n.

The skin covering the top of the head.

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