What does "beard" mean?
Facial hair on the chin, cheeks, jaw and neck.
Beard
/bɪəd/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Facial hair on the chin, cheeks, jaw and neck.
- Grammar: beard is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: affront, ascender, back, bag.
- Useful contrasts: acquiesce, clean shaven, comply.
- Usage evidence: It is pleasant to shave off my beard.
How to use "beard"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "beard" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "beard" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "beard" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "beard" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "beard" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "affront" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "beard", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Facial hair on the chin, cheeks, jaw and neck.
- 2 tuft of strong filaments by which e.g. a mussel makes itself fast to a fixed surface wordnet
- 3 The cluster of small feathers at the base of the beak in some birds.
"At this moment the cock began to play; he stuck out his beard, trailed his wings down by his legs, and made, with great solemnity and wavelike motions of his neck, a few steps forward on the branch, while he stuck up his tail and spread it out like a big wheel."
- 4 hairy growth on or near the face of certain mammals wordnet
- 5 The appendages to the jaw in some cetaceans, and to the mouth or jaws of some fishes.
Show 15 more definitions
- 6 the hair growing on the lower part of a man's face wordnet
- 7 The byssus of certain shellfish.
- 8 a person who diverts suspicion from someone (especially a woman who accompanies a male homosexual in order to conceal his homosexuality) wordnet
- 9 The gills of some bivalves, such as the oyster.
- 10 a tuft or growth of hairs or bristles on certain plants such as iris or grasses wordnet
- 11 The hairs of the labial palpi of moths and butterflies.
- 12 The long or stiff hairs on a plant; the awn.
"the beard of grain"
- 13 Long, hairlike feathers that protrude from the chest of a turkey.
"While all toms—adult male turkeys—have beards, nearly 10 percent of hens also have one, albeit a much stubbier, wispier version."
- 14 A barb or sharp point of an arrow or other instrument, projecting backward to prevent the head from being easily drawn out.
- 15 The curved underside of an axehead, extending from the lower end of the cutting edge to the axehandle.
- 16 That part of the underside of a horse's lower jaw which is above the chin, and bears the curb of a bridle.
- 17 That part of a type which is between the shoulder of the shank and the face. dated
- 18 A fake customer or companion; an intermediary. slang
"To get his way, Roberts employed a bit of developer's cunning: rather than approach Galardi directly, he sent a friend, Alan Meyers, as a “beard”."
- 19 A fake customer or companion; an intermediary.; One who helps to conceal infidelity in a monogamous relationship by acting as a cover. slang
"What are you talking about, I should be the beard? I don't wanna be a beard."
- 20 A fake customer or companion; an intermediary.; A woman who accompanies a gay man, or a man who accompanies a lesbian, in order to give the impression that the person being accompanied is heterosexual. slang
"One could also speculate that Linda also served as Cole's shield (or "beard") against his possibly being disinherited by his disapproving (of sissies) millionaire grandfather and doting mom, both of whom wanted him to be a lawyer."
Verb
- 1 To grow hair on the chin and jaw. intransitive, obsolete
- 2 go along the rim, like a beard around the chin wordnet
- 3 To boldly and bravely oppose or confront, often to the chagrin of the one being bearded. transitive
"Robin Hood is always shown as bearding the Sheriff of Nottingham."
- 4 To take by the beard; to seize, pluck, or pull the beard of (a man), in anger or contempt. transitive
- 5 To deprive (an oyster or similar shellfish) of the gills. transitive
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 Of bees, to accumulate together in a beard-like shape. intransitive
- 7 Of a gay man or woman: to accompany a gay person of the opposite sex in order to give the impression that they are heterosexual. ambitransitive, slang
"Lesbians and homosexual men bearding one another (i.e. providing each other with the public appearance of being heterosexual); […]"
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname transferred from the nickname.
- 2 A place name:; An unincorporated community in Warren Township, Clinton County, Indiana, United States.
- 3 A place name:; An unincorporated community in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, United States, named after Josiah Beard.
- 4 A place name:; A suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, named after ex-convict Timothy Beard.
Example
"It is pleasant to shave off my beard."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "beard"?
Common synonyms include: affront, ascender, back, bag, ballocks, balls.
How do you use "beard" in a sentence?
It is pleasant to shave off my beard.
How do you pronounce "beard"?
Pronounced /bɪəd/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
PIE word *bʰardʰéh₂ From Middle English berd, bard, bærd, from Old English beard, from Proto-West Germanic *bard, from Proto-Germanic *bardaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰeh₂, *bʰh₂erdʰeh₂. Cognates Cognate with Scots beird (“beard”), Yola bearde (“beard”), North Frisian biard (“beard”), Saterland Frisian Boart (“beard”), West Frisian burd (“beard”), Bavarian Bårt (“beard”), Dutch baard (“beard”), German Bart (“beard”), German Low German and Luxembourgish Baart (“beard”), Vilamovian biöt (“beard”), Yiddish באָרד (bord, “beard”), Icelandic barð (“brim; edge, ridge”), Norwegian Bokmål bart (“moustache”), Norwegian Nynorsk bard, barde (“edge, rim”), bart (“moustache”), Crimean Gothic bars (“beard”); also Latin barba (“beard”), Latvian bārda (“beard”), Lithuanian barzda (“beard”), Belarusian барада́ (baradá, “beard”), Bulgarian and Macedonian брада́ (bradá, “beard; chin”), Czech, Slovak, and Slovene brada (“beard”), Russian and Ukrainian борода́ (borodá, “beard”), Serbo-Croatian бра́да, bráda (“beard”). Doublet of barb.
Etymology 2
Originally a nickname for someone with a beard.