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hair

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hair


  5  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Hair  \Hair\,  n.  [OE.  her  heer,  h[ae]r,  AS  h[=ae]r;  akin  to 
  OFries  h[=e]r,  D.  &  G.  haar,  OHG.  &  Icel.  h[=a]r,  Dan.  haar, 
  Sw  h[*a]r;  cf  Lith.  kasa.] 
  1.  The  collection  or  mass  of  filaments  growing  from  the  skin 
  of  an  animal,  and  forming  a  covering  for  a  part  of  the 
  head  or  for  any  part  or  the  whole  of  the  body. 
 
  2.  One  the  above-mentioned  filaments,  consisting,  in 
  invertebrate  animals,  of  a  long,  tubular  part  which  is 
  free  and  flexible,  and  a  bulbous  root  imbedded  in  the 
  skin. 
 
  Then  read  he  me  how  Sampson  lost  his  hairs. 
  --Chaucer. 
 
  And  draweth  new  delights  with  hoary  hairs. 
  --Spenser. 
 
  3.  Hair  (human  or  animal)  used  for  various  purposes;  as  hair 
  for  stuffing  cushions. 
 
  4.  (Zo["o]l.)  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. 
 
  5.  An  outgrowth  of  the  epidermis,  consisting  of  one  or  of 
  several  cells,  whether  pointed,  hooked,  knobbed,  or 
  stellated.  Internal  hairs  occur  in  the  flower  stalk  of  the 
  yellow  frog  lily  ({Nuphar}). 
 
  6.  A  spring  device  used  in  a  hair-trigger  firearm. 
 
  7.  A  haircloth.  [Obc.]  --Chaucer. 
 
  8.  Any  very  small  distance,  or  degree;  a  hairbreadth. 
 
  Note:  Hairs  is  often  used  adjectively  or  in  combination;  as 
  hairbrush  or  hair  brush,  hair  dye,  hair  oil,  hairpin, 
  hair  powder,  a  brush,  a  dye,  etc.,  for  the  hair. 
 
  {Against  the  hair},  in  a  rough  and  disagreeable  manner; 
  against  the  grain.  [Obs.]  ``You  go  against  the  hair  of 
  your  professions.''  --Shak. 
 
  {Hair  bracket}  (Ship  Carp.),  a  molding  which  comes  in  at  the 
  back  of  or  runs  aft  from  the  figurehead. 
 
  {Hair  cells}  (Anat.),  cells  with  hairlike  processes  in  the 
  sensory  epithelium  of  certain  parts  of  the  internal  ear. 
 
 
  {Hair  compass},  {Hair  divider},  a  compass  or  divider  capable 
  of  delicate  adjustment  by  means  of  a  screw. 
 
  {Hair  glove},  a  glove  of  horsehair  for  rubbing  the  skin. 
 
  {Hair  lace},  a  netted  fillet  for  tying  up  the  hair  of  the 
  head.  --Swift. 
 
  {Hair  line},  a  line  made  of  hair;  a  very  slender  line 
 
  {Hair  moth}  (Zo["o]l.),  any  moth  which  destroys  goods  made  of 
  hair,  esp.  {Tinea  biselliella}. 
 
  {Hair  pencil},  a  brush  or  fine  hair,  for  painting;  -- 
  generally  called  by  the  name  of  the  hair  used  as  a 
  camel's  hair  pencil,  a  sable's  hair  pencil,  etc 
 
  {Hair  plate},  an  iron  plate  forming  the  back  of  the  hearth  of 
  a  bloomery  fire. 
 
  {Hair  powder},  a  white  perfumed  powder,  as  of  flour  or 
  starch,  formerly  much  used  for  sprinkling  on  the  hair  of 
  the  head,  or  on  wigs. 
 
  {Hair  seal}  (Zo["o]l.),  any  one  of  several  species  of  eared 
  seals  which  do  not  produce  fur;  a  sea  lion. 
 
  {Hair  seating},  haircloth  for  seats  of  chairs,  etc 
 
  {Hair  shirt},  a  shirt,  or  a  band  for  the  loins,  made  of 
  horsehair,  and  worn  as  a  penance. 
 
  {Hair  sieve},  a  strainer  with  a  haircloth  bottom. 
 
  {Hair  snake}.  See  {Gordius}. 
 
  {Hair  space}  (Printing),  the  thinnest  metal  space  used  in 
  lines  of  type 
 
  {Hair  stroke},  a  delicate  stroke  in  writing. 
 
  {Hair  trigger},  a  trigger  so  constructed  as  to  discharge  a 
  firearm  by  a  very  slight  pressure,  as  by  the  touch  of  a 
  hair.  --Farrow. 
 
  {Not  worth  a  hair},  of  no  value. 
 
  {To  a  hair},  with  the  nicest  distinction. 
 
  {To  split  hairs},  to  make  distinctions  of  useless  nicety. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  hair 
  n  1:  any  of  the  cylindrical  filaments  characteristically  growing 
  from  the  epidermis  of  a  mammal  and  covering  the  body  or 
  parts  of  it 
  2:  a  very  small  distance  or  space;  "they  escaped  by  a 
  hair's-breadth";  "they  lost  by  a  hair"  [syn:  {hair's-breadth}, 
  {hairbreadth}] 
  3:  filamentous  hairlike  growth  on  a  plant;  "peach  fuzz"  [syn:  {fuzz}, 
  {tomentum}] 
  4:  cloth  woven  from  horsehair  or  camelhair;  used  for  upholstery 
  or  stiffening  in  garments  [syn:  {haircloth}] 
  5:  a  filamentous  projection  or  process  on  an  organism 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  hair  n.  [back-formation  from  {hairy}]  The  complications  that 
  make  something  hairy.  "Decoding  {TECO}  commands  requires  a  certain  amount 
  of  hair."  Often  seen  in  the  phrase  `infinite  hair',  which  connotes 
  extreme  complexity.  Also  in  `hairiferous'  (tending  to  promote  hair 
  growth):  "GNUMACS  elisp  encourages  lusers  to  write  complex  editing  modes." 
  "Yeah,  it's  pretty  hairiferous  all  right."  (or  just:  "Hair  squared!") 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  hair 
 
  [back-formation  from  {hairy}]  The  complications  that  make 
  something  hairy.  "Decoding  {TECO}  commands  requires  a  certain 
  amount  of  hair."  Often  seen  in  the  phrase  "infinite  hair", 
  which  connotes  extreme  complexity.  Also  in  hairiferous" 
  (tending  to  promote  hair  growth):  "GNUMACS  elisp  encourages 
  {lusers}  to  write  complex  editing  modes."  "Yeah,  it's  pretty 
  hairiferous  all  right."  (Or  just:  "Hair  squared!") 
 
 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Hair 
  (1.)  The  Egyptians  let  the  hair  of  their  head  and  beard  grow 
  only  when  they  were  in  mourning,  shaving  it  off  at  other  times. 
  "So  particular  were  they  on  this  point  that  to  have  neglected  it 
  was  a  subject  of  reproach  and  ridicule;  and  whenever  they 
  intended  to  convey  the  idea  of  a  man  of  low  condition,  or  a 
  slovenly  person,  the  artists  represented  him  with  a  beard." 
  Joseph  shaved  himself  before  going  in  to  Pharoah  (Gen.  41:14). 
  The  women  of  Egypt  wore  their  hair  long  and  plaited.  Wigs  were 
  worn  by  priests  and  laymen  to  cover  the  shaven  skull,  and  false 
  beards  were  common.  The  great  masses  of  hair  seen  in  the 
  portraits  and  statues  of  kings  and  priests  are  thus  altogether 
  artificial. 
 
  (2.)  A  precisely  opposite  practice,  as  regards  men,  prevailed 
  among  the  Assyrians.  In  Assyrian  sculptures  the  hair  always 
  appears  long,  and  combed  closely  down  upon  the  head.  The  beard 
  also  was  allowed  to  grow  to  its  full  length. 
 
  (3.)  Among  the  Greeks  the  custom  in  this  respect  varied  at 
  different  times,  as  it  did  also  among  the  Romans.  In  the  time  of 
  the  apostle,  among  the  Greeks  the  men  wore  short  hair,  while 
  that  of  the  women  was  long  (1  Cor.  11:14,  15).  Paul  reproves  the 
  Corinthians  for  falling  in  with  a  style  of  manners  which  so  far 
  confounded  the  distinction  of  the  sexes  and  was  hurtful  to  good 
  morals.  (See,  however,  1  Tim.  2:9,  and  1  Pet.  3:3,  as  regards 
  women.) 
 
  (4.)  Among  the  Hebrews  the  natural  distinction  between  the 
  sexes  was  preserved  by  the  women  wearing  long  hair  (Luke  7:38; 
  John  11:2;  1  Cor.  11:6),  while  the  men  preserved  theirs  as  a 
  rule  at  a  moderate  length  by  frequent  clipping. 
 
  Baldness  disqualified  any  one  for  the  priest's  office  (Lev. 
  21). 
 
  Elijah  is  called  a  "hairy  man"  (2  Kings  1:8)  from  his  flowing 
  locks,  or  more  probably  from  the  shaggy  cloak  of  hair  which  he 
  wore.  His  raiment  was  of  camel's  hair. 
 
  Long  hair  is  especially  noticed  in  the  description  of 
  Absalom's  person  (2  Sam.  14:26);  but  the  wearing  of  long  hair 
  was  unusual,  and  was  only  practised  as  an  act  of  religious 
  observance  by  Nazarites  (Num.  6:5;  Judg.  13:5)  and  others  in 
  token  of  special  mercies  (Acts  18:18). 
 
  In  times  of  affliction  the  hair  was  cut  off  (Isa.  3:17,  24; 
  15:2;  22:12;  Jer.  7:29;  Amos  8:10).  Tearing  the  hair  and  letting 
  it  go  dishevelled  were  also  tokens  of  grief  (Ezra  9:3).  "Cutting 
  off  the  hair"  is  a  figure  of  the  entire  destruction  of  a  people 
  (Isa.  7:20).  The  Hebrews  anointed  the  hair  profusely  with 
  fragrant  ointments  (Ruth  3:3;  2  Sam.  14:2;  Ps  23:5;  45:7, 
  etc.),  especially  in  seasons  of  rejoicing  (Matt.  6:17;  Luke 
  7:46). 
 




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