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sideburns

[sahyd-burnz]
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plural noun
  1. short whiskers extending from the hairline to below the ears and worn with an unbearded chin.
  2. the projections of the hairline forming a border on the face in front of each ear.
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Origin of sideburns

1885–90, Americanism; alteration of burnsides
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for sideburns

wig, hairstyle, grass, fur, haircut, fiber, wool, strand, eyebrow, mane, stubble, sideburns, goatee, burnsides, mustache, beard, shock, lock, tress, down

Examples from the Web for sideburns

Contemporary Examples of sideburns

Historical Examples of sideburns

  • And outwardly he remained a mild little figure with sideburns, kindly tolerant toward everyone.

    Gargoyles

    Ben Hecht

  • He wore his brown mustache thick and let it grow back over his cheeks to join his sideburns.

    Shaman

    Robert Shea

British Dictionary definitions for sideburns

sideburns

pl n
  1. a man's whiskers grown down either side of the face in front of the earsAlso called: sideboards, side whiskers, (Austral) sidelevers
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Word Origin for sideburns

C19: variant of burnsides
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

Word Origin and History for sideburns

n.

1880, American English, alteration of burnsides (q.v).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper