Hair

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Hair \Hair\ (h[^a]r), n. [OE. her, heer, h[ae]r, AS. h[=ae]r;
     akin to OFries. h[=e]r, D. & G. haar, OHG. & Icel. h[=a]r,
     Dan. haar, Sw. h[*a]r; cf. Lith. kasa.]
     1. The collection or mass of filaments growing from the skin
        of an animal, and forming a covering for a part of the
        head or for any part or the whole of the body.


        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. One the above-mentioned filaments, consisting, in
        vertebrate animals, of a long, tubular part which is free
        and flexible, and a bulbous root imbedded in the skin.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Then read he me how Sampson lost his hairs.
                                                    --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              And draweth new delights with hoary hairs.
                                                    --Spenser.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Hair (human or animal) used for various purposes; as, hair
        for stuffing cushions.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Zool.) A slender outgrowth from the chitinous cuticle of
        insects, spiders, crustaceans, and other invertebrates.
        Such hairs are totally unlike those of vertebrates in
        structure, composition, and mode of growth.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. (Bot.) An outgrowth of the epidermis, consisting of one or
        of several cells, whether pointed, hooked, knobbed, or
        stellated. Internal hairs occur in the flower stalk of the
        yellow frog lily ({Nuphar}).
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. A spring device used in a hair-trigger firearm.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     7. A haircloth. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     8. Any very small distance, or degree; a hairbreadth.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Hairs is often used adjectively or in combination; as,
           hairbrush or hair brush, hair dye, hair oil, hairpin,
           hair powder, a brush, a dye, etc., for the hair.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {Against the hair}, in a rough and disagreeable manner;
        against the grain. [Obs.] "You go against the hair of your
        professions." --Shak.
  
     {Hair bracket} (Ship Carp.), a molding which comes in at the
        back of, or runs aft from, the figurehead.
  
     {Hair cells} (Anat.), cells with hairlike processes in the
        sensory epithelium of certain parts of the internal ear.
        
  
     {Hair compass}, {Hair divider}, a compass or divider capable
        of delicate adjustment by means of a screw.
  
     {Hair glove}, a glove of horsehair for rubbing the skin.
  
     {Hair lace}, a netted fillet for tying up the hair of the
        head. --Swift.
  
     {Hair line}, a line made of hair; a very slender line.
  
     {Hair moth} (Zool.), any moth which destroys goods made of
        hair, esp. {Tinea biselliella}.
  
     {Hair pencil}, a brush or pencil made of fine hair, for
        painting; -- generally called by the name of the hair
        used; as, a camel's hair pencil, a sable's hair pencil,
        etc.
  
     {Hair plate}, an iron plate forming the back of the hearth of
        a bloomery fire.
  
     {Hair powder}, a white perfumed powder, as of flour or
        starch, formerly much used for sprinkling on the hair of
        the head, or on wigs.
  
     {Hair seal} (Zool.), any one of several species of eared
        seals which do not produce fur; a sea lion.
  
     {Hair seating}, haircloth for seats of chairs, etc.
  
     {Hair shirt}, a shirt, or a band for the loins, made of
        horsehair, and worn as a penance.
  
     {Hair sieve}, a strainer with a haircloth bottom.
  
     {Hair snake}. See {Gordius}.
  
     {Hair space} (Printing), the thinnest metal space used in
        lines of type.
  
     {Hair stroke}, a delicate stroke in writing.
  
     {Hair trigger}, a trigger so constructed as to discharge a
        firearm by a very slight pressure, as by the touch of a
        hair. --Farrow.
  
     {Not worth a hair}, of no value.
  
     {To a hair}, with the nicest distinction.
  
     {To split hairs}, to make distinctions of useless nicety.
        [1913 Webster] hairball

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  hair
       n 1: dense growth of hairs covering the body or parts of it (as
            on the human head); helps prevent heat loss; "he combed
            his hair"
       2: a very small distance or space; "they escaped by a
          hair's-breadth"; "they lost the election by a whisker"
          [syn: {hair's-breadth}, {hairsbreadth}, {whisker}]
       3: filamentous hairlike growth on a plant; "peach fuzz" [syn: {fuzz},
           {tomentum}]
       4: any of the cylindrical filaments characteristically growing
          from the epidermis of a mammal; "there is a hair in my
          soup" [syn: {pilus}]
       5: cloth woven from horsehair or camelhair; used for upholstery
          or stiffening in garments [syn: {haircloth}]
       6: a filamentous projection or process on an organism

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  190 Moby Thesaurus words for "hair":
     a continental, a curse, a damn, a darn, a hoot, ace, animal fiber,
     artificial fiber, atom, bagatelle, bauble, bean, bibelot, bit,
     bowshot, braids, brass farthing, brief span, bristle, button,
     cambric tea, capillament, cent, cilium, cirrus, close quarters,
     close range, closeness, coat, cobweb, confinement, crack,
     crowdedness, curio, dab, denier, dishwater, dole, dot, dram,
     dribble, driblet, dwarf, earreach, earshot, farce, farthing,
     feather, fiber, fibrilla, fig, filament, filamentule, flagellum,
     fleabite, fleck, fleece, flyspeck, folderol, fraction, fragment,
     fribble, frippery, fur, gaud, gewgaw, gimcrack, gobbet, gossamer,
     grain, granule, groat, gruel, gunshot, hair space, hairbreadth,
     hairsbreadth, halfpenny, handful, hank, hill of beans, horsehair,
     house of cards, incapaciousness, inch, incommodiousness, iota,
     jest, joke, jot, kickshaw, knickknack, knickknackery, limitation,
     little, little bit, little ways, locks, mane, matchwood,
     milk and water, minikin, minim, minimum, minutiae, mite, mockery,
     modicum, molecule, molehill, mote, narrow gauge, narrowness,
     nearness, nutshell, ounce, particle, pebble, pelt, peppercorn,
     picayune, pile, pin, pinch, pinch of snuff, pinprick, pistol shot,
     pittance, point, pubescence, pubic hair, rap, red cent, reed,
     restrictedness, restriction, rope of sand, row of pins, rush,
     sand castle, scruple, setula, shag, shit, short distance,
     short piece, short way, skein, slenderness, smidgen, smitch, snap,
     sneeshing, sou, span, speck, spitting distance, spoonful, spot,
     step, straitness, strand, straw, strictness, suture, tendril,
     thimbleful, thread, threadlet, tight squeeze, tightness, tiny bit,
     tittle, toy, trace, tresses, trifle, trifling amount, trinket,
     trivia, triviality, tuppence, two cents, twopence, water, web,
     whim-wham, whisker, whit, wool
  
  

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  hair n. [back-formation from {hairy}] The complications that make
     something hairy. "Decoding {TECO} commands requires a certain amount of
     hair." Often seen in the phrase `infinite hair', which connotes extreme
     complexity. Also in `hairiferous' (tending to promote hair growth):
     "GNUMACS elisp encourages lusers to write complex editing modes." "Yeah,
     it's pretty hairiferous all right." (or just: "Hair squared!")
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  hair
       
          [back-formation from {hairy}] The complications that make
          something hairy.  "Decoding {TECO} commands requires a certain
          amount of hair."  Often seen in the phrase "infinite hair",
          which connotes extreme complexity.  Also in "hairiferous"
          (tending to promote hair growth): "GNUMACS elisp encourages
          {lusers} to write complex editing modes."  "Yeah, it's pretty
          hairiferous all right." (Or just: "Hair squared!")
       
       

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Hair
     (1.) The Egyptians let the hair of their head and beard grow
     only when they were in mourning, shaving it off at other times.
     "So particular were they on this point that to have neglected it
     was a subject of reproach and ridicule; and whenever they
     intended to convey the idea of a man of low condition, or a
     slovenly person, the artists represented him with a beard."
     Joseph shaved himself before going in to Pharoah (Gen. 41:14).
     The women of Egypt wore their hair long and plaited. Wigs were
     worn by priests and laymen to cover the shaven skull, and false
     beards were common. The great masses of hair seen in the
     portraits and statues of kings and priests are thus altogether
     artificial.
     
       (2.) A precisely opposite practice, as regards men, prevailed
     among the Assyrians. In Assyrian sculptures the hair always
     appears long, and combed closely down upon the head. The beard
     also was allowed to grow to its full length.
     
       (3.) Among the Greeks the custom in this respect varied at
     different times, as it did also among the Romans. In the time of
     the apostle, among the Greeks the men wore short hair, while
     that of the women was long (1 Cor. 11:14, 15). Paul reproves the
     Corinthians for falling in with a style of manners which so far
     confounded the distinction of the sexes and was hurtful to good
     morals. (See, however, 1 Tim. 2:9, and 1 Pet. 3:3, as regards
     women.)
     
       (4.) Among the Hebrews the natural distinction between the
     sexes was preserved by the women wearing long hair (Luke 7:38;
     John 11:2; 1 Cor. 11:6), while the men preserved theirs as a
     rule at a moderate length by frequent clipping.
     
       Baldness disqualified any one for the priest's office (Lev.
     21).
     
       Elijah is called a "hairy man" (2 Kings 1:8) from his flowing
     locks, or more probably from the shaggy cloak of hair which he
     wore. His raiment was of camel's hair.
     
       Long hair is especially noticed in the description of
     Absalom's person (2 Sam. 14:26); but the wearing of long hair
     was unusual, and was only practised as an act of religious
     observance by Nazarites (Num. 6:5; Judg. 13:5) and others in
     token of special mercies (Acts 18:18).
     
       In times of affliction the hair was cut off (Isa. 3:17, 24;
     15:2; 22:12; Jer. 7:29; Amos 8:10). Tearing the hair and letting
     it go dishevelled were also tokens of grief (Ezra 9:3). "Cutting
     off the hair" is a figure of the entire destruction of a people
     (Isa. 7:20). The Hebrews anointed the hair profusely with
     fragrant ointments (Ruth 3:3; 2 Sam. 14:2; Ps. 23:5; 45:7,
     etc.), especially in seasons of rejoicing (Matt. 6:17; Luke
     7:46).