hair
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: hâr
ipa: /hɛə/
ipa: /hɛ(ə)ɹ/
ipa: [hɛɚ]
ipa: /heː/
note: Victoria
ipa: /hɛːə/
note: without the cheer–chair merger
ipa: /heə/
note: New Zealand, cheer–chair merger
ipa: /hiə/
ipa: /heɹ/
note: Lancashire, fair–fur merger
ipa: /hɜː(ɹ)/
homophone: hare
homophone: air
homophone: heir (h-dropping)
homophone: here (cheer–chair merger)
homophone: her (fair–fur merger)
rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
Forms: form: hairs
Etymology: From Middle English her, heer, hær, from Old English hǣr, from Proto-West Germanic *hār, from Proto-Germanic *hērą (“hair”), from Proto-Indo-European *kes- (“to scrape, comb”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hier, Híer (“hair”), West Frisian hier (“hair”), Cimbrian haar, har (“hair”), Dutch haar (“hair”), German and Low German Haar (“hair”), Luxembourgish Hoer (“hair”), Mòcheno hor (“hair”), Yiddish האָר (hor, “hair”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish hår (“hair”), Faroese and Icelandic hár (“hair”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English cheveler, chevelere (“hair”), borrowed from Old French chevelëure (“hair, head-hair, coiffure, wig”).
The modern spelling with ai is not a regular representation of the vowel developed from Middle English. Rather, it is from Middle English here (haircloth) influenced by Old French haire.
Senses: examples: text: And draweth new delights with hoary hairs.
ref: 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Iune. Ægloga Sexta.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Iohn Wolfe for Iohn Harrison the yonger, […], →OCLC:
text: Threading its way out from among his grey hairs, and continuing right down one side of his tawny scorched face and neck, till it disappeared in his clothing, you saw a slender rod-like mark, lividly whitish.
ref: 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 28, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 135:
glosses: A pigmented filament of keratin which grows from a follicle on the skin of humans and other mammals.
examples: text: In the western world, women usually have long hair while men usually have short hair.
text: Her abundant hair, of a dark and glossy brown, was neatly plaited and coiled above an ivory column that rose straight from a pair of gently sloping shoulders, clearly outlined beneath the light muslin frock that covered them.
ref: 1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:
glosses: The collection or mass of such growths growing from the skin of humans and animals, and forming a covering for a part of the head or for any part or the whole body.
topics: biology
natural-sciences
zoology
glosses: 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.
examples: text: Internal hairs occur in the flower stalk of the yellow frog lily (Nuphar).
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: A cellular outgrowth of the epidermis, consisting of one or of several cells, whether pointed, hooked, knobbed, or stellated.
examples: (uncountable, by extension) The collection or mass of such outgrowths, filaments, or fibers growing or projecting from the surface of an object or organism.
glosses: Any slender, flexible outgrowth, filament, or fiber growing or projecting from the surface of an object or organism.
topics: engineering
firearms
government
military
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
politics
tools
war
weaponry
glosses: A locking spring or other safety device in the lock of a rifle, etc., capable of being released by a slight pressure on a hair-trigger.
examples: text: Just a little louder please—turn that knob a hair to the right.
glosses: Any very small distance, or degree; a hairbreadth.
examples: January 2014, Barack Obama, quoted in "Going the Distance" by David Remnick, in The New Yorker
Having said all that, those who argue that legalizing marijuana is a panacea and it solves all these social problems I think are probably overstating the case. There is a lot of hair on that policy.
glosses: Complexity; difficulty; the quality of being hairy.
Derived terms: word: angel's hair
word: bacon hair
word: beard hair
word: blue hair
word: dehair
word: dehairer
word: hair bobble
word: hair-bowed
word: hair bun
word: hair-dresser
word: hair dresser
word: hairdresser
word: haired
word: hairedness
word: hairen
word: hairful
word: hair ice
word: hairing
word: hairist
word: hairless
word: hairlessly
word: hairlet
word: hair-like
word: hairlike
word: hair net
word: hair-pulling disorder
word: hair scale
word: hairsedge
word: hairworker
word: hairworking
word: hairy
word: Old Hairy
word: hang by a hair
word: harm a hair on someone's head
word: helfie
word: hockey hair
word: love-hair
word: macrohair
word: mermaid's hair
word: microhair
word: nanohair
word: netherhair
word: nether hair
word: nonhair
word: overhair
word: peppercorn hair
word: rehair
word: Sabinas brittle hair syndrome
word: underhair
word: underhaired
word: unhair
word: unhairing
word: witch's hair
sense: Compound adjectives
word: black-haired
sense: Compound adjectives
word: brown-haired
sense: Compound adjectives
word: curlyhaired
sense: Compound adjectives
word: dark-haired
sense: Compound adjectives
word: fair-haired
sense: Compound adjectives
word: ginger-haired
sense: Compound adjectives
word: grey-haired
sense: Compound adjectives
word: hair-brown
sense: Compound adjectives
word: hair-on-fire
sense: Compound adjectives
word: hair-raising
sense: Compound adjectives
word: hairraising
sense: Compound adjectives
word: long-haired
sense: Compound adjectives
word: silver-haired
sense: Compound adjectives
word: silvery-haired
sense: Compound adjectives
word: tow-haired
sense: Compound adjectives
word: white-haired
sense: Compound adjectives
word: whitehaired
sense: Compound adjectives
word: wirehaired
sense: Compound adjectives
word: yellow-haired
word: a hair past a freckle
word: androgenic hair
word: angel hair
word: asshair
word: axillary hair
word: baby hair
word: bad hair day
word: ballhair
word: bamboo hair
word: bed hair
word: Berenice's Hair
word: big hair
word: bluehair
word: body hair
word: brittle hair syndrome
word: camelhair
word: camelshair
word: cartilage-hair hypoplasia
word: cathair
word: chest hair
word: club hair
word: crosshair
word: cunt hair
word: curled hair
word: deer-hair
word: deer's hair
word: doghair
word: ear hair
word: facial hair
word: frog hair
word: goathair
word: goatshair
word: guard hair
word: gustatory hair
word: hairball
word: hairband
word: hair band
word: hairbird
word: hairbow
word: hair bracket
word: hairbreadth
word: hairsbreadth
word: hair's breadth
word: hair brush
word: hairbrush
word: hair brushing
word: hair bulb
word: hair bundle
word: haircalf
word: haircap
word: haircare
word: hair care
word: hair cell
word: hair chalk
word: hair clip
word: hairclip
word: haircloth
word: haircoat
word: haircolor
word: hair conditioner
word: hair curler
word: hair-curling
word: haircurling
word: haircut
word: haircutter
word: haircutting
word: hair divider
word: hairdo
word: hairdress
word: hairdresser
word: hairdressing
word: hairdressing salon
word: hair drop
word: hairdryer
word: hair dryer
word: hair dye
word: hair elastic
word: hair extension
word: hair fairy
word: hairfall
word: hair follicle
word: hair fork
word: Hairgate
word: hair gel
word: hair glove
word: hairgrass
word: hair grass
word: hairgrip
word: hair grip
word: hair in the gate
word: hair iron
word: hair jelly
word: hair lace
word: hairlift
word: hair line
word: hairline
word: hairlock
word: hairlore
word: hair loss
word: hairmageddon
word: hair mask
word: hair match
word: hair metal
word: hairmonger
word: hair moss
word: hair moth
word: hairnet
english: that bit one
translation: that bit one
word: hair of the dog
word: hair oil
word: hair pencil
word: hair pie
word: hairpiece
word: hairpin
word: hair pin
word: hair pipe
word: hair plate
word: hairplay
word: hairpluck
word: hair plug
word: hair powder
word: hairpuller
word: hairpulling
word: hair-raiser
word: hair restorer
word: hair rig
word: hair roller
word: hair salon
word: hair-salt
word: hair salt
word: hair seal
word: hair seating
word: hairshaft
word: hair shirt
word: hairshirt
word: hair sieve
word: hairslide
word: hair snake
word: hair space
word: hairsplit
word: hairsplitter
word: hair-splitter
word: hair-splittery
word: hairsplitting
word: hair-splitting
word: hairspray
word: hair spray
word: hairspring
word: hair stick
word: hair stone
word: hairstreak
word: hairstring
word: hair stroke
word: hairstyle
word: hairstyler
word: hairstyling
word: hair styling
word: hairstylist
word: hair stylist
word: hairswidth
word: hairtail
word: hair-tidy
word: hair tie
word: hair tonic
word: hair trigger
word: hair-trigger
word: hair twist
word: hairwash
word: hairwashing
word: hair wax
word: hairwear
word: hairweaving
word: hairwork
word: hairworm
word: hat hair
word: headhair
word: head of hair
word: helmet hair
word: horsehair
word: kinky hair disease
word: lady's hair
word: longhair
word: long hair
word: long hair sedge
word: maidenhair
word: maid's hair
word: manhair
word: Menkes kinky hair syndrome
word: moosehair
word: no-hair theorem
word: nose hair
word: nostril hair
word: Pele's hair
word: pubic hair
word: red hair
word: red pussy hair
word: red cunt hair
word: root hair
word: sex hair
word: shorthair
word: short hairs
word: stadia hair
word: steely hair disease
word: swimmer's hair
word: terminal hair
word: uncombable hair syndrome
word: vellus hair
word: Venus hair fern
word: Venus's hair stone
word: wild hair
word: wirehair
word: wirehaired
sense: Predicates
word: comb one's hair
sense: Predicates
word: comb someone's hair the wrong way
sense: Predicates
word: curl someone's hair
sense: Predicates
word: make someone's hair curl
sense: Predicates
word: get grey hair from
sense: Predicates
word: get in someone's hair
sense: Predicates
word: get out of someone's hair
sense: Predicates
word: give someone grey hair
sense: Predicates
word: give grey hair to
sense: Predicates
word: have a wild hair to
sense: Predicates
word: keep one's hair on
sense: Predicates
word: let one's hair down
sense: Predicates
word: long hair don't care
sense: Predicates
word: make someone's hair stand on end
sense: Predicates
word: not turn a hair
sense: Predicates
word: not worth a hair
sense: Predicates
word: one hair of a woman can draw more than a hundred pair of oxen
sense: Predicates
word: part one's hair
sense: Predicates
word: pull one's hair out
sense: Predicates
word: put hair on someone's chest
sense: Predicates
word: put hair on one's chest
sense: Predicates
word: set one's hair on fire
sense: Predicates
word: light one's hair on fire
sense: Predicates
word: run around with one's hair on fire
sense: Predicates
word: split hairs
sense: Predicates
word: tear one's hair
sense: Predicates
word: tear one's hair out
sense: Predicates
word: turn a hair
sense: Prepositional and other phrases
word: against the hair
sense: Prepositional and other phrases
word: by a hair's breadth
sense: Prepositional and other phrases
word: fine as frog('s) hair
sense: Prepositional and other phrases
word: finer than frog hair
sense: Prepositional and other phrases
word: hair out of place
sense: Prepositional and other phrases; neither
word: hide nor hair
sense: Prepositional and other phrases
english: the turn of
translation: the turn of
word: to a hair
sense: Unsorted
word: a hair past a freckle
sense: Unsorted
word: androgenic hair
sense: Unsorted
word: angel hair
sense: Unsorted
word: Antarctic hair grass
sense: Unsorted
word: axillary hair
sense: Unsorted
word: baby hair
sense: Unsorted
word: bamboo hair
sense: Unsorted
word: big hair
sense: Unsorted
word: body hair
sense: Unsorted
word: brittle hair syndrome
sense: Unsorted
word: camel-hair brush
sense: Unsorted
word: cartilage-hair hypoplasia
sense: Unsorted
word: chest hair
sense: Unsorted
word: club hair
sense: Unsorted
word: comb one's hair
sense: Unsorted
word: comb someone's hair the wrong way
sense: Unsorted
word: cunt hair
sense: Unsorted
word: curled hair
sense: Unsorted
word: deer-hair
sense: Unsorted
word: deer's hair
sense: Unsorted
word: fine as frog hair
sense: Unsorted
word: fine as frog's hair
sense: Unsorted
word: finer than frog hair
sense: Unsorted
word: frog hair
sense: Unsorted
word: get gray hair from
sense: Unsorted
word: get grey hair from
sense: Unsorted
word: get in someone's hair
sense: Unsorted
word: get out of someone's hair
sense: Unsorted
word: give gray hair to
sense: Unsorted
word: give grey hair to
sense: Unsorted
word: give someone gray hair
sense: Unsorted
word: give someone grey hair
sense: Unsorted
word: guard hair
sense: Unsorted
word: gustatory hair
sense: Unsorted
word: hair band
sense: Unsorted
word: hair-brown
sense: Unsorted
word: hair-brush
sense: Unsorted
word: hair brushing
sense: Unsorted
word: hair bulb
sense: Unsorted
word: hair bundle
sense: Unsorted
word: hair cell
sense: Unsorted
word: hair chalk
sense: Unsorted
word: hair clip
sense: Unsorted
word: hair-clip
sense: Unsorted
word: hair conditioner
sense: Unsorted
word: hair curling
sense: Unsorted
word: hair cut
sense: Unsorted
word: hair divider
sense: Unsorted
word: hair-dryer
sense: Unsorted
word: hair elastic
sense: Unsorted
word: hair extension
sense: Unsorted
word: hair fairy
sense: Unsorted
word: hair fork
sense: Unsorted
word: hair grass
sense: Unsorted
word: hair grip
sense: Unsorted
word: hair-grip
sense: Unsorted
word: hair in the gate
sense: Unsorted
word: hair iron
sense: Unsorted
word: hair jelly
sense: Unsorted
word: hair loss
sense: Unsorted
word: hair mask
sense: Unsorted
word: hair match
sense: Unsorted
word: hair metal
sense: Unsorted
word: hair of the dog that bit one
sense: Unsorted
word: hair oil
sense: Unsorted
word: hair out of place
sense: Unsorted
word: hair pie
sense: Unsorted
word: hair pin
sense: Unsorted
word: hair pipe
sense: Unsorted
word: hair plug
sense: Unsorted
word: hair-raiser
sense: Unsorted
word: hair raiser
sense: Unsorted
word: hair raising
sense: Unsorted
word: hair-raisingly
sense: Unsorted
word: hair remover
sense: Unsorted
word: hair restorer
sense: Unsorted
word: hair rig
sense: Unsorted
word: hair salon
sense: Unsorted
word: hair-salt
sense: Unsorted
word: hair salt
sense: Unsorted
word: hair-shirt
sense: Unsorted
word: hair-shirted
sense: Unsorted
word: hair-splitter
sense: Unsorted
word: hair-splittery
sense: Unsorted
word: hair-splitting
sense: Unsorted
word: hair-splittingly
sense: Unsorted
word: hair stick
sense: Unsorted
word: hair stone
sense: Unsorted
word: hair styling
sense: Unsorted
word: hair stylist
sense: Unsorted
word: hair-tidy
sense: Unsorted
word: hair tonic
sense: Unsorted
word: hair trigger
sense: Unsorted
word: hair twist
sense: Unsorted
word: hair wax
sense: Unsorted
word: keep one's hair on
sense: Unsorted
word: kinky hair disease
sense: Unsorted
word: lady's hair
sense: Unsorted
word: light one's hair on fire
sense: Unsorted
word: long hair
sense: Unsorted
word: long hair don't care
sense: Unsorted
word: long hair sedge
sense: Unsorted
word: maiden-hair
sense: Unsorted
word: maid's hair
sense: Unsorted
word: make someone's hair curl
sense: Unsorted
word: make someone's hair stand on end
sense: Unsorted
word: Menkes kinky hair syndrome
sense: Unsorted
word: nether hair
sense: Unsorted
word: nether-hair
sense: Unsorted
word: one hair of a woman can draw more than a hundred pair of oxen
sense: Unsorted
word: Pele's hair
sense: Unsorted
word: pull one's hair out
sense: Unsorted
word: put hair on one's chest
sense: Unsorted
word: put hair on someone's chest
sense: Unsorted
word: red cunt hair
sense: Unsorted
word: red hair
sense: Unsorted
word: red pussy hair
sense: Unsorted
word: re-hair
sense: Unsorted
word: root hair
sense: Unsorted
word: run around with one's hair on fire
sense: Unsorted
word: sex hair
sense: Unsorted
word: stadia hair
sense: Unsorted
word: steely hair disease
sense: Unsorted
word: swimmer's hair
sense: Unsorted
word: tear one's hair
sense: Unsorted
word: terminal hair
sense: Unsorted
word: to the turn of a hair
sense: Unsorted
word: turn a hair
sense: Unsorted
word: uncombable hair syndrome
sense: Unsorted
word: vellus hair
sense: Unsorted
word: Venus hair fern
sense: Unsorted
word: Venus's hair stone
Related terms: depilate
depilation
depilator
depilatory
epilate
epilation
epilator
epilatory