What does "hair" mean?
A pigmented filament of keratin which grows from a follicle on the skin of humans and other mammals.
Hair
/hɛə/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A pigmented filament of keratin which grows from a follicle on the skin of humans and other mammals.
- Grammar: hair is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: a continental, a curse, a damn, a darn.
- Useful contrasts: baldness, bare scalp.
- Usage evidence: You'd better have your hair cut at once.
How to use "hair"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hair" 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 "hair" 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 "hair" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hair" 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 "hair" 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 "a continental" 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.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "hair", 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 A pigmented filament of keratin which grows from a follicle on the skin of humans and other mammals. countable
"And draweth new delights with hoary hairs."
- 2 a filamentous projection or process on an organism wordnet
- 3 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. uncountable
- 4 cloth woven from horsehair or camelhair; used for upholstery or stiffening in garments wordnet
- 5 Specifically, the collection of hairs on the top and sides of the human head, growing from the scalp. uncountable
"In the western world, women usually have long hair while men usually have short hair."
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 any of the cylindrical filaments characteristically growing from the epidermis of a mammal wordnet
- 7 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. countable
- 8 a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss wordnet
- 9 A cellular outgrowth of the epidermis, consisting of one or of several cells, whether pointed, hooked, knobbed, or stellated. countable
"Internal hairs occur in the flower stalk of the yellow frog lily (Nuphar)."
- 10 filamentous hairlike growth on a plant wordnet
- 11 Any slender, flexible outgrowth, filament, or fiber growing or projecting from the surface of an object or organism. countable
"(uncountable, by extension) The collection or mass of such outgrowths, filaments, or fibers growing or projecting from the surface of an object or organism."
- 12 a very small distance or space wordnet
- 13 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. countable
- 14 Any very small distance, or degree; a hairbreadth. countable
"Just a little louder please—turn that knob a hair to the right."
- 15 Complexity; difficulty; the quality of being hairy. slang, uncountable
"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."
Verb
- 1 To remove the hair from. transitive
"Now know ye, that in compliance with the said proviso, we the said John Cant and John Millar do hereby declare that our said invention of a new method of tanning leather is described in the manner following : that our method of preparing hides and skins by liming, hairing, fleshing, and baiting, is the same as that in use by the most experienced tanners; that is to say: All leather that is to be dressed or curried, we use the operation of what tanners call baiting, for this reason; that the leather when curried should carry a sufficient quantity of oil, and dry a good colour."
- 2 To grow hair (where there was a bald spot). intransitive
"He has haired up and healed over."
- 3 To cause to have or bear hair; to provide with hair transitive
"THE following classes of fiber are employed for hairing dolls : human hair, mohair, cross-bred wool, horsehair, hog-bristle, unspun cotton. Human hair is only used for hairing dolls of an extremely expensive class."
- 4 To string the bow for a violin.
"The bow is now haired, and all that remains to make it ready for use is to rosin it."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
baldnessbare scalp
Example
"You'd better have your hair cut at once."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "hair"?
Common synonyms include: a continental, a curse, a damn, a darn, a hoot, ace.
How do you use "hair" in a sentence?
You'd better have your hair cut at once.
How do you pronounce "hair"?
Pronounced /hɛə/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
* As a Scottish Gaelic and Irish surname, from ó héir (“descendant of Ír”), a personal name related to Old Irish sír (“long-lasting”), similar to Hare, O'Hare, Haire. * As an English surname, from the noun hair. * As a Scottish surname, variant of Ayre, Ayer. * As a Dutch and German surname, Americanized from Haar, from haar (“sandy ridge”) (from Proto-Germanic *harugaz) and from the adjective Haar (“hair”).