scalps

Noun

scalp (plural scalps)

1. (dialectal) The top of the head; the skull.

   Synonyms:

   skull

2. The part of the head where the hair grows from, or used to grow from.
   • By the bare scalpe of Robin Hoods fat Fryer, / This fellow were a King, for our wilde faction.c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
   1. (historical) A part of the skin of the head, with the hair attached, formerly cut or torn off from an enemy by warriors in some cultures as a token of victory.
      • Some tribes used to collect scalps to prove how many of the enemy they had killed in battle.
   2. The skin of the head of a stag, to which the horns are attached.
      • He bears for Arms : Argent, on a chevron invected gules, between two bugle-horns sable, stringed of the second in chief, and the attires of a stag affixed to the scalp in base of the third, two fasces chevronways or.1899, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, Armorial Families: A Directory of Some Gentlemen of Coat-armour, Showing which Arms in Use at the Moment are Borne by Legal Authority, page 313
3. (figuratively) A victory, especially at the expense of someone else.
   • [At the American State Convention in 1856 the Hon E. M. Yerger of Yazoo said that] he came up to the great council fire of his people, not like his friends Cobb, Hillyer and Brooke, with no scalps at his girdle that he had had a fight and a glorious victory.1856 January 25, “Editorial Correspondence”, in The Weekly American Banner, Yazoo City, Miss., page 3
4. (Scotland) A bed or stratum of shellfish.

   Synonyms:

   scaup

See all 16 meanings of scalp