haire

Noun

hair (countable and uncountable, plural hairs)

1. (countable, singular, usually) A pigmented filament of keratin which grows from a follicle on the skin of humans and other mammals.
   • And draweth new delights with hoary hairs.1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Iune. Ægloga Sexta.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Iohn Wolfe for Iohn Harrison the yonger, […], →OCLC
2. (singular, uncountable, usually) The collection or mass of such growths growing from the skin of humans and animals, and forming a covering for any part or the whole body.
3. (singular, uncountable, usually) Specifically, the collection of hairs on the top and sides of the human head, growing from the scalp.
   • In the western world, women usually have long hair while men usually have short hair.

   Synonyms:

   thatch, mop, locks

4. (countable, singular, usually) 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.
5. (countable, singular, usually) A cellular 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).
6. (countable, singular, usually) Any slender, flexible outgrowth, filament, or fiber growing or projecting from the surface of an object or organism.
   • (uncountable, by extension) The collection or mass of such outgrowths, filaments, or fibers growing or projecting from the surface of an object or organism.

See all 14 meanings of hair