5 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Beard \Beard\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Bearded}; p. pr & vb n.
{Bearding}.]
1. To take by the beard; to seize, pluck, or pull the beard
of (a man), in anger or contempt.
2. To oppose to the gills; to set at defiance.
No admiral, bearded by three corrupt and dissolute
minions of the palace, dared to do more than mutter
something about a court martial. --Macaulay.
3. To deprive of the gills; -- used only of oysters and
similar shellfish.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Beard \Beard\, n. [OE. berd, AS beard; akin to Fries. berd, D.
baard, G. bart, Lith. barzda OSlav. brada, Pol. broda, Russ.
boroda L. barba, W. barf. Cf 1st {Barb}.]
1. The hair that grows on the chin, lips, and adjacent parts
of the human face, chiefly of male adults.
2. (Zo["o]l.)
a The long hairs about the face in animals, as in the
goat.
b The cluster of small feathers at the base of the beak
in some birds
c The appendages to the jaw in some Cetacea, and to the
mouth or jaws of some fishes.
d The byssus of certain shellfish, as the muscle.
e The gills of some bivalves, as the oyster.
f In insects, the hairs of the labial palpi of moths and
butterflies.
3. (Bot.) Long or stiff hairs on a plant; the awn; as the
beard of grain.
4. A barb or sharp point of an arrow or other instrument,
projecting backward to prevent the head from being easily
drawn out
5. That part of the under side of a horse's lower jaw which
is above the chin, and bears the curb of a bridle.
6. (Print.) That part of a type which is between the shoulder
of the shank and the face.
7. An imposition; a trick. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
{Beard grass} (Bot.), a coarse, perennial grass of different
species of the genus {Andropogon}.
{To one's beard}, to one's face; in open defiance.
From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]:
beard
n 1: the hair growing on the lower part of a man's face [syn: {face
fungus}, {whiskers}]
2: a tuft or growth of hairs or bristles on certain plants such
as iris or grasses
3: hairy growth on or near the face of certain mammals
4: tuft of strong filaments by which e.g. a mussel makes itself
fast to a fixed surface [syn: {byssus}]
v : go along the rim, like a beard around the chin; "Houses
bearded the top of the heights"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Beard
The mode of wearing it was definitely prescribed to the Jews
(Lev. 19:27; 21:5). Hence the import of Ezekiel's (5:1-4)
description of the razor" i.e., the agents of an angry
providence being used against the guilty nation of the Jews. It
was a part of a Jew's daily toilet to anoint his beard with oil
and perfume (Ps. 133:2). Beards were trimmed with the most
fastidious care (2 Sam. 19:24), and their neglet was an
indication of deep sorrow (Isa. 15:2; Jer. 41:5). The custom was
to shave or pluck off the hair as a sign of mourning (Isa. 50:6;
Jer. 48:37; Ezra 9:3). The beards of David's ambassadors were
cut off by hanun (2 Sam. 10:4) as a mark of indignity.
On the other hand, the Egyptians carefully shaved the hair off
their faces, and they compelled their slaves to do so also (Gen.
41:14).
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
BEARD, n. The hair that is commonly cut off by those who justly
execrate the absurd Chinese custom of shaving the head.
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