noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An unruly lock or section of hair that sticks straight out from the skull or lies at an angle at odds with the rest of an individual's hair, like a whorl or vortex.

   "We would touch strangers discreetly, feathering down their cowlicks."

2. 2
   a tuft of hair that grows in a different direction from the rest of the hair and usually will not lie flat wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

calflicktuft

Example

More examples

"We would touch strangers discreetly, feathering down their cowlicks."

Etymology

From cow + lick; as the hair may appear to have been licked into place by a cow.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.