▪ I. hair, n.
(hɛə(r))
Forms: α. 1 hǽr, hér, 2–3 hær, 2–5 her, 4–6 heer, 5–6 heere, here, (5 herre), 6 hear(e. β. 4–5 har, hare, 4 hor, 4–5 hore, 5 haar(e. γ. 5–6 heyr(e, 5–7 haire, hayre, heir(e, 6– hair.
[Com. Teutonic, OE. hǽr, hér = OFris. hêr, OS. hâr (MDu. haer, Du. haar), OHG. hâr, (Ger. haar), ON. hár (Sw. hår, Da. haar):—OTeut. *hæ̂ro{supm}; not known in Gothic. The α forms are native, from OE., WS. hǽr, Anglian hér; the β forms are immed. from ON. hár, which gave in ME. hâr in northern, and hôr in some north midland dialects. The later heyr, heire, hayre, hair, is not a normal repr. of ME. hêr, heer, the modern Eng. form of which would be (as in 16th c.) hear or here; it seems to be partly a northern spelling, but mainly due to assimilation to haire.]
I. 1. a. One of the numerous fine and generally cylindrical filaments that grow from the skin or integument of animals, esp. of most mammals, of which they form the characteristic coat; applied also to similar-looking filamentous outgrowths from the body of insects and other invertebrates, although these are generally of different structure.
| a 800 Corpus Gloss. 1594 Pilus, her. c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 236 An hær of eowrum heafde. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2288 An her of hare fax. 1382 Wyclif Matt. v. 36 Thou maist not make oon heer whyt, or blak. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 235/2 Heer (K., S., P. here), capillus. 1583 Hollyband Campo di Fior 335 There will alwayes remaine some heare in the cliffe of the penne. |
| β 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 5007 Na hare sal perishe, ne faile. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6961 He had a hare, þe whilk grewe On cuthberts heued. c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 87 Not oone hore. 1483 Cath. Angl. 175/2 An Hare, crinis. |
| γ 1483 Cath. Angl. 180/2 An Heire, pilus. Ibid. 184/1 A Heyr, crinis. 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 97 b, A sword..hanging by a haire over his head. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 158 The long hairs of Horses..seem Cylindrical. 1742 Francis Horace Epist. ii. i. (R.) For hair by hair I pull the horse's tail. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague ii. v, And would not hurt a hair upon his head. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 70 A hair..is larger when wet than when dry. |
b. The plural
hairs was formerly used
= the collective sense 2. [
Cf. L.
crines,
Fr. les cheveux,
Ger. die haare.] Now
obs. or
arch. as in
grey hairs, which is also often taken not collectively.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark i. 6 Iohannes wæs ᵹescryd mid oluendes hærum. c 1340 Cursor M. 8079 (F.) Þaire browes ware growen side with heres. 1382 Wyclif Luke vii. 38 And wypide with heeris of hir heed [R.V. 1881 the hair of her head]. ― John xi. 2 And wipte his feet with hir heeris [All 16–19th c. versions with her hair]. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3989 Gilde hores hade þat gay, godely to se. 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 42/2 His old age or white heares. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. viii. 4 He..would..knocke his head, and rend his rugged heares. 1611 Bible Gen. xliv. 29 Ye shall bring downe my gray haires with sorrow to the graue. 1715–20 Pope Iliad x. 19 He rends his hairs in sacrifice to Jove. 1826 H. N. Coleridge West Indies 230 Venerable for his white hairs. |
c. fig. (
= 2 b).
| 1606 G. W[oodcocke] tr. Hist. Ivstine Ff iv b, A blazing-starre with long haires appeared. |
2. collect. a. The aggregate of hairs growing on the skin of an animal:
spec. that growing naturally upon the human head; also, hairs collectively or in the mass, as used for manufacturing purposes and the like.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 156 Gif hær to þicce sie. c 1200 Ormin 3208 Hiss claþ wass off ollfenntess hær. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 12236 About hure hed hure her to-schaked. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 235/2 Heer fyrste growynge yn' mannys berde, lanugo. 1467 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 396 That they wasshe none heare, but benethe the brugge. 1495 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 19 Cussions stuffed with horse here..neetis here, deris here, and gotis here. 1584 [see 8 o]. |
| β a 1300 Cursor M. 3662 Esau es rugh wit har. c 1300 Havelok 235 Handes wringing, and drawing bi hor. a 1400–50 Alexander 5476 With haare to þaire heelis. c 1440 York Myst. xxxii. 21 Þe hore þat pillis my heed. |
| γ c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Egipciane 225 Hayre scho had, quhyt & streke. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 21 Kemmet was thair cleir hair. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 2 For fallinge of the heyre of the head. 1659 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 287 Which makes the hair stand on the heads of such as hear it related. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VIII. 17 Among the hairy caterpillars..the cast skin is covered with hair. 1777 F. Burney Early Diary (1889) II. 169 All our hairs were done to the astonishment of all the company. 1816 Byron Prisoner of Chillon i, My hair is grey, but not with years. 1870 Tennyson Holy Grail 42 She..shore away..all that wealth of hair Which made a silken mat-work for her feet. 1873 Mivart Elem. Anat. vii. 238 Our hair and nails are..modifications of the external layer of the skin. |
b. fig. Applied to the rays or ‘tresses’ of the sun, the tail of a comet, ‘leafy locks’ of a tree, etc.
| 1594 Marlowe & Nashe Dido i. i, Yet shall the aged sun shed forth his hair. 1650 R. Stapylton Strada's Low C. Warres i. 8 A blazing star..shooting its fiery hair point blank against the Monastery. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 710 Like a Comet..That..from his horrid hair Shakes Pestilence and Warr. 1821 Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 168 New fire..Shook its portentous hair beneath Heaven's frown. 1864 Swinburne Atalanta 1268 The heavy hair of pines. |
3. In plants: An outgrowth of the epidermis, consisting of an elongated cell, or a row of cells, usually soft and flexible like the hair of animals. In
Bot. sometimes extended to other outgrowths of similar origin, as prickles, spore-capsules, etc.:
= trichome.
| 1631 Widdowes Nat. Philos. 35 The Quince..his fruit hath downie hayre. 1811 Mrs. Ibbetson in Nicholson's Jrnl. XXX. 1 (title), On the Hairs of Plants. 1875 Darwin Insectiv. Pl. 354 The glandular hairs of ordinary plants..have the power..of absorbing both a solution and the vapour of ammonia. 1875 Bennett & Dyer tr. Sachs' Bot. i. iii. 138 Hairs (Trichomes) is the term given in the higher plants to those outgrowths which arise only from the epidermis. |
4. transf. a. Applied to various things having the shape, consistency, or appearance of a hair or mass of hair:
e.g. threadlike stamens or filaments.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens vi. i. (655) The yellow heare which groweth in the middle of the Rose is called..in shops and of the Arabian physitions Anthera. |
b. In names of plants having foliage fancifully likened to hair: as
Isis hair,
lady's hair,
maidenhair,
Venus' hair.
| 1551 Turner Herbal i. B iij, It [Adianthum]..may be named in English Venus heyre or ladyes heyre. 1598 Florio, Capelli di venere, the herbe Maiden-haire, Venus-haire, or our Ladies-haire. 1778 Eng. Gaz. (ed. 2) s.v. Portland, Among the sea-weeds here is found a sort of shrub, not unlike coral. It is called Isis's Hair. |
c. African hair or
vegetable hair: see
quots.| 1851 Offic. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 1259 ‘Vegetable hair’, made of the leaves of the Algerian dwarf palm-tree..for the use of upholsterers. 1866 Treas. Bot. 565 African Hair, the fibre of the leaves of the Palmetto, Chamærops humilis. |
d. Applied to sertularian and other polyps which grow on oyster shells. (
Cent. Dict.)
e. A spring mechanism which is freed by the
hair-trigger,
q.v. 5. Used as a type of what is of extremely small magnitude, value, or measure; a jot or tittle; an iota; the slightest thing; the least degree. See also
to a hair in 8 c.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 334 Kynghod ne knyȝthod..Helpeth nouȝt to heueneward one heres ende. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. xlv, Him lakket no more to be slayne, Butte the brede of hore. 1529 More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. Wks. 1223/1 The prayse had not bene the lesse of one heere. 1536 Latimer 2nd Serm. bef. Convocat. Wks. I. 48 They would not set an hair by the name, but for the thing. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 201 Neither is there one haires difference to choose. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. ii. 191 If I be false, or swerue a haire from truth. a 1610 Healey Cebes (1636) 159 Their estate is not an haire better then the others. 1808–25 Jamieson, Hair, a very small portion or quantity; as a hair of meal, a few grains. |
† 6. Taken as the distinctive type of sort or kind;
of one hair, of one colour and external quality; hence
= sort, kind, nature; stamp, character.
Obs.| 1387 Trevisa Higden I. 365 With mylk of a cowe þat is of oon here [unius coloris]. 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 244 Two notable knaues, both of a haire, and both cosen germaines to the deuill. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. i. 61 The Qualitie and Heire of our Attempt Brookes no diuision. 1600 Tourneur Transf. Metamorph. Author to Bk. 6 Expect but flowts, for 'tis the haire of crime. a 1625 Fletcher Nice Valour i. i, A lady of my hair cannot want pitying. |
7. A cloth, mat, or other fabric of hair used for various purposes in some trades,
e.g. in hop-drying, extraction of oils, etc.; a haircloth.
[Historically, the same word as
haire, which, in losing the final
e, has become identical in form with this.]
| 1485 Inv. in Ripon Ch. Acts 371 Hayr pro ustrina. 1594 Fairfax Inv. in Archæologia XLVIII. 130 On Seasterne of leade for barley and a kilne haire. 1848 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IX. ii. 568 The roof of the building coming on above much nearer the hair than in the modern kilns. Ibid. 572 A step-ladder to carry the green hops to lay on the hair. 1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 742/1 Measured quantities..of [oil-seed] meal are filled into woollen bags..Each bag is further placed within ‘hairs’, thick mats of horse-hair bound with leather. |
II. Phrases and locutions.
8. a. against the hair: contrary to the direction in which an animal's hair naturally lies; contrary to the natural set of a thing; against the grain, inclination, or sentiment.
b. in one's hair: (
a) with the hair down; (
b) bare-headed, without hat or wig; (
c) being a nuisance or encumbrance, in one's way;
usu. with
get and
have (
orig. U.S.); so
out of one's hair: out of one's way, not encumbering (see sense 8 q below).
c. to a hair: to a nicety, with the utmost exactness.
d. hair about the heels: a mark of under-bred horses; hence
fig. of persons.
† e. hair and hide,
hair and hoof: every part, entirely, wholly.
f. a hair in one's neck: a cause of trouble or annoyance.
g. a hair of the dog that bit you,
hair of the same dog (or wolf): see
dog n.1 17 e.
h. a hair to make a tether of: a slight pretext of which to make a great deal.
i. to comb (a person's) hair (
slang): see
comb v. 3.
j. to cut (or divide) the hair,
to split hairs: to make fine or cavilling distinctions.
k. to keep one's hair on (
slang): to keep cool, not to lose one's head or get excited.
l. to put up, turn up (one's) hair: said of a girl when she exchanges her floating hair or ringlets for the dressed hair of womanhood;
to do or put up, to let down (one's) hair (
i.e. in the toilet); also
fig.; and of both men and women,
to let (take) one's (back) hair down, to throw off reserve, to become confidential.
m. to tear († rend) one's hair,
i.e. as a symptom of passionate grief.
n. not to turn a hair:
lit. of a horse, not to show sweat by the roughening of his hair;
fig. not to show any sign of being discomposed, ruffled, or affected by exertion.
o. to get (a person) by the short hairs (formerly
to get (a person, etc.) where the hair is short): to have complete control over.
p. to make one's hair curl: see
curl v.
1 4.
q. out of one's hair:
opp. in one's hair (sense 8 b (c)).
r. to lose one's hair (or
to get one's hair off): to lose one's temper.
s. In other expressions: see
quots.| a. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love ii. iv, Ayenst the heere it tourneth. 1579–80 North Plutarch (1676) 388 All went utterly against the hair with him. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. iii. 40 If you should fight, you goe against the haire of your professions. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 63 [Cows] in the licking of themselves against the hair. a 1627 Middleton Mayor of Queenborough iii. ii, Books in women's hands are as much against the hair, methinks, as to see men wear stomachers, or night-rails. 1668 Howe Bless. Righteous (1825) 170 Something that crosses them, and goes against the hair. 1827 Scott Chron. Canongate Introd. iii, He was a wee toustie when you rubbed him again the hair. |
| b. 1533 Cranmer in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. II. 39 She in her here, my Lord of Suffolke beryng before herr the Crowne. 1606 Holland Sueton. 143 Many a time he would shew her to his Souldiours in her haire. 1851 Oregon Statesman (Oregon City) 30 Sept. 1/2, I shall depend on your honor..that you won't tell on me, cause if you did, I should have Hetty Gawkins in my hair in no time. 1859 Thackeray Virgin. i, A large grave man in his own hair. 1880 ‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abroad I. xx. 193 What you learn here, you've got to know..or else you'll have one of these..spectacled..old professors in your hair. 1935 S. Lewis It can't happen Here xiii. 123 Maybe there'll be a few Communist cells around here now, when Fascism begins to get into people's hair. 1936 ‘J. Tey’ Shilling for Candles x. 115 She got in my hair until I couldn't bear it another day. 1945 M. Lowry Let. (1967) 49 We had them in our hair all summer. 1951 C. Fry Sleep of Prisoners 4 You know what Absalom Said to the tree? ‘You're getting in my hair.’ 1957 R. Watson-Watt Three Steps to Victory 255 His endurance of a bunch of untidy civilians constantly ‘in his hair’. |
| c. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. i. 157 Pan. Youle remember your brothers excuse? Par. To a hayre. 1662 J. Bargrave Pope Alex. VII (1867) 98 Distinguishing between good and bad to a hair. 1765 Cowper Lett. 18 Oct., Three or four single men, who suit my temper to a hair. a 1834 Lamb Let. to Coleridge (L.), I could hit him off to a hair. |
| d. 1882 H. C. Merivale Faucit of B. III. ii. xxiii. 240 ‘Hair about the heels’, muttered the Count to himself. |
| e. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6860 Þai were destroyed, bath hare and hyde. 1705 Jean Irvine in Collect. Dying Test. (1806) 57 Poor people that would fain have strength to stand by hair and hoof of the truths of God. 1728 P. Walker Peden Pref. (ed. 3) 28 None contending earnestly for Substance and Circumstances, Hair and Hoof of that dear-bought Testimony. |
| f. a 1450 Ratis Raving iii. 199 Think one the har is in thi nek. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxiii, An Bailie Grahame were to get word o' this..it wad be a sair hair in my neck! |
| h. 1809 Scott Let. to G. Ellis 3 Nov. in Lockhart, Those who wish to undermine it want but, according to our Scotch Proverb, a hair to make a tether of. |
| j. 1652 Sancroft Mod. Policies in D'Oyly Life (1821) II. 241 Machiavel cut the hair when he advised, not absolutely to disavow conscience, but to manage it with such a prudent neglect, as is scarce discernible from a tenderness. 1692 R. L'Estrange Josephus, Philo's Emb. Caius x. (1702) 901 To cut a Hair betwixt Satyr and Flattery. 1742 Richardson Pamela III. 75 When Persons have a Mind to split Hairs, and to distinguish away the Christian Duties by a Word. 1874 L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) I. ix. 316 [He] splits hairs with such surprising versatility. |
| k. 1883 F. M. Crawford Dr. Claudius vi, Keep your hair on, my young friend. 1888 Pall Mall G. 4 Aug. 1/2 This is the English way of doing things; they keep their hair on their heads. 1662 [see put v.1 53 a]. 1850 G. H. Lewes in Leader 7 Dec. 882/3, I am well aware that a little ranting and ‘letting down the back hair’ would have ‘told’ upon the audience with more noisy effect. 1921 W. de la Mare Mem. Midget iii. 15 On my seventeenth birthday I put up my hair, and was confirmed. 1925 N. Coward Vortex ii. 66 Helen and I have just had a grand heart-to-heart talk; we've undone our back hair. 1933 Wodehouse Heavy Weather vii. 116 You needn't be coy, Beach... No reporters present. We can take our hair down and tell each other our right names. 1951 Auden Nones (1952) 31 To let their hair down and be frank about The world. 1959 Listener 15 Oct. 608/1 Mr. Fredric Warburg has reminded us of this in a volume of autobiography..in which he lets down his hair. 1967 Guardian 3 Jan. 2/7 Lively young thing, I recall—but she'll have put her hair up by now. 1967 C. Fremlin Prisoner's Base ix. 67 After you'd gone, Mother—he really let his back hair down. I was right, you know—he has been in prison. 1967 B. Wootton In World I never Made i. 36 Before it became customary for women of all ages to wear their hair short, one of the marks of entering upon adult status was to put one's hair ‘up’. |
| m. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV, 14 b, This knight..sobbed, wept, and rent his heare. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. ii. 113 Teare my bright heire, and scratch my praised cheekes. 1715–20 [see 1 b]. 1802 Southey Inchcape Rock xvi, Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair And curst himself in his despair. 1855 Thackeray Rose & Ring xix, Tearing her hair, crying and bemoaning herself. |
| n. 1798 Jane Austen Northang. Abb. vii, Hot! he [a horse] had not turned a hair till we came to Walcot church. 1897 Blackmore Dariel xviii, When I tried her with a lot of little dodges..she never turned a hair—as the sporting people say. |
| o. 1872 G. P. Burnham Mem. U.S. Secret Service 207 You've got me where the ha'r is short! What a cursed fool I have been. 1880 ‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abroad I. xx. 184, I had to tackle this miserable language... I've got it where the hair's short, I think. 1888 Kipling Wee Willie Winkie 67 Then they'll rush in, and then we've got 'em by the short hairs! 1928 Blackw. Mag. Feb. 150/1 Those Chinhwan really did seem to have got the rest of the world by the short hairs. 1930 Sayers & Eustace Docts. in Case i. 25 She's evidently got her husband by the short hairs. |
| q. 1902 Kipling in Sat. Even. Post 6 Dec. 2/3 Get out o' my back-hair! 1949 ‘J. Tey’ Brat Farrar x. 81 They wouldn't bother to look for him. They would be too relieved to have him out of their hair. 1959 J. Masters Fandango Rock 173 He wouldn't want to interfere with her big moment, and he'd even managed to keep Peggy out of her hair. 1967 Boston Sunday Globe 23 Apr. 18/2 Two vice presidents of the First Pennsylvania Banking and Trust Co., the city's largest and most respected, said the bank paid Karafin and an associate {pstlg}12,000 a year ‘to keep him out of our hair’. 1971 Wodehouse Much Obliged, Jeeves xvi. 177 He wanted to get Florence out of his hair without actually telling her to look elsewhere for a mate. |
| r. c 1920 D. H. Lawrence Phoenix II (1968) 120 ‘Nay—nay,’ said Lewis testily. ‘Don't get your hair off, Mrs. Goddard.’ 1931 T. R. G. Lyell Slang 356 To lose one's hair, to lose one's temper. ‘Last night Jones quite lost his hair and made an awful fool of himself.’ 1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart iii. ii. 343 This is what one gets for being so nicely nonchalant, for saving people's faces, for not losing one's hair. |
| s. 1579 Fulke Refut. Rastell 755 The thinges proued..are but the heire and nayles of the masse, and not the substantiall partes thereof. 1584 Fenner Def. Ministers (1587) 13 Hee will..in the next Section tugge it in by the heare. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 80 As when one tells..a lie, to bid him take the haire from his lips. |
III. attrib. and
Comb. 9. a. attrib. Of, pertaining to, or connected with hair or a hair; made or consisting of hair, or of a texture like hair; as
hair-bracelet,
hair-broom,
hair-bud,
hair-bulb,
hair-camlet,
hair-cell,
hair-chain,
hair-club (
club n. 6),
hair-combing,
hair-craft,
hair-crape,
hair-crêpe,
hair-fashion,
hair-felt,
hair-fetishism,
hair-fetishist,
hair-fibre,
hair-glove,
hair-goods,
hair-guard,
hair-hat,
hair-list,
hair-merchant,
hair-rope,
hair-scale,
hair-seating,
hair-shaft,
hair-sheath,
hair-substance,
hair-tint,
hair-tip,
hair-work, etc. Also
hairbreadth, -cloth, etc.
| 1673 [R. Leigh] Transpr. Reh. 138 The mode of wearing *hair-bracelets was scarce in use then. |
| 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Horse, Seams, Scabs, and *Hair-brokenness..on the inward Bow of his Knees. |
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Broom, We say, a birch-broom, a *hair-broom, a rush-broom. |
| 1842 Prichard Nat. Hist. Man 96 At the origin of each hair two parts are distinguished, the hair-sheath, and the germ or *hair-bud. |
| 1876 Duhring Dis. Skin 34 The root is found..to terminate in a bulb-shaped expansion, termed the *hair-bulb. |
| 1676 Lond. Gaz. No. 1107/4 A *Hair-Camblet Coat. |
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 158 *Hair Chains made to order. Send us the hair and we will braid. 1907 N. Munro Daft Days xxx, The lockets are large and strong, and hair-chains much abound. |
| 1774 F. Burney Early Diary (1889) I. 288 If you are fond of *hair-clubs, you should see the Portuguese ladies' hair! |
| 1940 G. Greene Power & Glory ii. iv. 178 There was a hair-slide,..and a ball of *hair⁓combings. |
| 1962 John o' London's 4 Jan. 14/1 The *haircraft women..used to tour the Swedish countryside..selling their products. |
| 1730 Martin in Phil. Trans. XXXVI. 454 A Piece of Muslin, or thin *Hair-Crape. |
| 1957 V. J. Kehoe Technique Film & T.V. Make-Up xv. 203 *Hair crepe..may be human hair (Caucasian, Chinese or Indian), yak or a combination of any or all of these types. |
| 1944 Koestler in Horizon Mar. 162 There are..certain typical attitudes to life including clothing, *hair-fashion, drink and food. |
| 1951 C. Berg Unconscious Significance of Hair vii. 65 The universality of *hair fetishism may be brought into relief by this short instance of its negative aspect: A young woman patient of mine, who had become completely bald,..had an indescribable horror of her predicament being seen or..suspected by anyone. Ibid. 61 The *hair fetishist loves the women's hair but frequently has the impulse to despoil or ‘castrate’ it. |
| 1954 Koestler Invisible Writing xxiv. 284 The hair-fetishists who loiter in tube-stations with scissors in their pockets. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Hair-gloves, horsehair gloves used for rubbing the skin in bathing, etc. |
| 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. ii. i, With his decent silver watch..and its decent *hair-guard. |
| 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) I. v. lxiv. 291 British woollens, such as *hair-list drabs. |
| 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4098/4 William Taylor..*Hair-Merchant. |
| 1867 Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims vii. (1875) 179 Bringing it to a *hair-point for the eye and hand of the philosopher. |
| 1577 in Rogers Agric. & Prices III. 580 *Hair rope to stake the mill horse. |
| 1863 Bates Nat. Amazon v. (1864) 115 At the tip of the moth's body there is a brush of long *hair-scales resembling feathers. |
| 1851 Offc. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 535 Specimens of damask and striped *hair-seating, various colours. |
| 1906 Practitioner Nov. 692 Complete removal..of the *hair-shaft, together with the root-sheath or papilla. 1924 Chambers's Jrnl. 668/2 The process flattens the almost spherical hairshaft and causes it to lean inwards. |
| 1876 Duhring Dis. Skin (1881) 36 The cortical substance, termed also *hair-substance, constitutes the bulk of the hair. |
| 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. xiv. (1593) 329 The cursed witch had smit Our highest *hairetips with hir wand. |
| 1790 Columbian Centinel 13 Oct. 36/4 The Artists' ability in Painting and *Hair-Work may be seen. 1959 Times 7 Mar. 9/4 Hairwork jewelry was already popular in the late seventeenth century. |
b. attrib. For or for the use of the hair;
hair appointment,
hair-caul,
hair-clasp,
hair-clip,
hair-comb,
hair-conditioner,
hair-cream,
hair-dye,
hair-grip,
hair-lacquer,
hair-lotion,
hair-net,
hair-oil,
hair-ornament,
hair-pad,
hair-preparation,
hair-ribbon,
hair-scissors,
hair-slide (
slide n. 6),
hair-spray,
hair-tonic,
hair-wash. Also
hair-band, -brush, -pin, etc.
| 1938 D. du Maurier Rebecca xxiv. 402 Mrs. de Winter had a *hair appointment from twelve until one thirty. |
| 1861 C. W. King Ant. Gems (1866) 160 The ear-rings, necklaces, *hair-cauls, or fillets, of the female busts. |
| 1894 A. M. Earle Costume Colonial Times 121 *Hair⁓clasps. These ornaments for the hair—clasps to hold up the braided back hair—were advertised for sale in the New York newspapers and in the Connecticut Courant of January, 1791, and were worn until a simpler form of hair-dressing appeared about the year 1800. |
| 1957 J. Frame Owls do Cry 55 *Hairclips have been taken from them. |
| 1837 Thackeray Ravenswing i, Two brass *hair-combs set with glass rubies. |
| 1951 Catal. Exhibits, S. Bank Exhib., Festiv. Brit. 63/2 *Hair Conditioner. |
| 1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 491/1 *Hair Cream, for fixing the hair. |
| 1843 Ainsworth's Mag. III. 554 Invent a new *hair-dye expressly to accommodate his wife. 1933 W. S. Maugham Sheppey i. 20, I don't believe there's another man in the business could 'ave sold Mr Bolton a bottle of 'air-dye. |
| 1896 Woman's Life III. 462/2 Hair-Bow (Fitted with New Safety *Hair-Grip). 1938 ‘J. Bell’ Port of London Murders vi. 91 The jug..contained..half a bootlace and two rusty hair grips. 1955 Sci. News Let. 5 Mar. 150/3 Hair-grips and kirbi-grips are known in America as bobby pins. |
| 1943 Mod. Beauty Shop Sept. i. 104 (Advt.), A national publicity campaign is informing women everywhere that *hair lacquer is best applied with an ordinary toothbrush. 1978 Zizmor & Foreman Superhair x. 90 Setting lotions..contain the same hair lacquers and plasticizers found in aerosol hair sprays. |
| 1906 T. D. Lister Chavasse's Advice to Mother (ed. 16) iii. 370 Avoid grease, pomatum, *hair lotions, and all abominations of that kind. 1962 N. Marsh Hand in Glove vii. 221 Mr. Period's bedroom smelt of hair lotion. |
| 1810 E. Weeton Let. 25 Feb. in Jrnl. of Governess (1969) I. 233 A small phial of *hair oil. 1853 Mrs. Gaskell Cranford xii. 174 The delusive lady was off upon..the merits of cosmetics and hair oils in general. 1870 M. Bridgman Ro. Lynne II. v. 116 There were hair-washes, and hair-oils. |
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 183 Real Tortoise Shell *Hair Ornaments. 1967 H. Porter in Coast to Coast 1965–6 178 They were not discussing the weather or hair-ornaments. |
| 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 779/5 *Hair Preparation. 1909 in A. Adburgham Shops & Shopping (1964) xiii. 273 A handsome sales-room where are sold..Hair Preparations,..Hair nets, etc. |
| 1790 J. B. Moreton W. Ind. Isl. 98 Two hats..*hair-ribband and hair-dressing. |
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. ix. 398 They ought..to be named what kind of cisers they are, whether *Hair cisers..or Beard cisers. |
| 1895 Army & Navy Co-op. Soc. Price List 15 Sept. (Index), *Hair Slides. 1927 Glasgow Herald 6 Oct. 11 Her hair-slide was found some distance from the body. 1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 166 A hair slide..is a clip for keeping the hair in place. |
| 1959 Sears, Roebuck Catal. Spring & Summer 280/4 Glow *Hair Spray. 1966 Vogue Nov. 81 Creamy Skin Perfume..and a hair spray. 1967 W. Pine Protectors i. 10 He smelt the scent of her hair-spray. |
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Index, *Hair Tonic. 1897 Hair tonic [see tonic n. 1]. 1938 Auden & Isherwood On Frontier i. i. 28 Surely he's the man who does the hair-tonic advertisements? |
| 1869 D. G. Rossetti Let. (1965) II. 707 Certainly a *hair⁓wash would be the unkindest cut of all to bring against the Absalom of modern poetry. 1938 H. Nicholson Let. 18 May (1966) 342 My hairwash comes from Floris. |
c. objective and
obj. genitive, as
hair-buyer,
hair-clasper,
hair-clipper,
hair-curler,
hair-cutter,
hair-dealer,
hair-dryer,
hair-frizzer,
hair-monger,
hair-remover,
hair-seller,
hair-stainer,
hair-straightener,
hair-waver, etc.;
hair-clipping,
hair-colouring,
hair-conditioning,
hair-curling,
hair-cutting,
hair-doing,
hair-drying,
hair-dyeing,
hair-lifting,
hair-nourishing,
hair-picking,
hair-raising,
hair-straightening,
hair-teasing, etc.,
vbl. ns. and/or
ppl. adjs. Also
hairdresser, -splitter, -splitting.
| 1721 Lond. Gaz. No. 5921/4 Mary Penstone..*Hair-buyer. |
| 1859 Darwin Orig. Spec. vi. (1878) 153 Parasite mites..furnished with *hair-claspers. |
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 444/1 The very best *hair clipper in the market. 1930 Daily Express 6 Nov. 19/3 A display of the latest type of electrical hair-clippers. 1972 G. Durrell Catch me a Colobus iii. 58 The next thing was carefully to shave the area... This was done with an electric hair-clipper. |
| 1886 W. J. Tucker E. Europe 11 Undergoing the process of *hair-clipping. |
| 1959 Punch 3 June 752/1 *Hair⁓colouring (modern usage for hair-dyeing) has become part of a woman's normal routine. |
| 1966 J. S. Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing 70/2 *Hair-conditioning, external treatment designed to improve the condition of the hair by means of lotions, creams, massage and the application of steam to the head and hair. |
| 1753 in E. Singleton Social N.Y. under Georges (1902) 176 *Hair⁓curler and peruke-maker from London. 1872 Rep. Comm. Patents 1870 (U.S.) II. 779/1 Hair-Curler... [A] combination, with a curling-iron tube [etc.]. 1929 Bookman May 270/1 A woman's steel hair curlers. 1936 Discovery Aug. 250/2 A long ivory rod with a pomegranate finial is probably a hair curler. |
| 1694 Lond. Gaz. No. 3036/4 Perriwig-maker and *Hair Cutter. 1889 Monthly Packet Christmas 102, I suppose—there—ain't no *hair-cutters up in Heaven? |
| 1832 Chambers's Edin. Jrnl. I. 60/2 The announcement *‘Hair-cutting rooms’ in the window. 1850 Dickens Dav. Copp. vii. 77 My recollections of..canings, rulerings, hair⁓cuttings, rainy Sundays. 1868 ‘Holme Lee’ B. Godfrey lii. 295 The hair-cutting parlour behind the shop. |
| 1707 Lond. Gaz. No. 4336/8 John Jesson..Grazier and *Hair-dealer. |
| 1875 C. M. Yonge My Young Alcides I. vii. 232 In the midst of my *hair-doing..Viola's running in to me. |
| 1895 Army & Navy Co-op. Soc. Price List 15 Sept. 180/1 The Princess Patent *Hair Dryer and Burnisher. 1909 Installation News III. 7 This Hair-Dryer works..by means of a small..electric fan. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 13 Oct. 7/4 One ounce of hair, which she was drawing through the hair-dryer in her hands. 1961 Times 26 Apr. 25/4 Domestic appliances such as..hair-driers. |
| 1902 M. Barnes-Grundy Thames Camp viii. 159 You dive into the sparkling river.., forgetting all about *hair-drying. 1906 Chambers's Jrnl. 30 June 495/2 In my lady's room may be found electrically heated curling-irons and an ingenious hair-drying machine. |
| 1872 Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 96 The art of *hair-dyeing came into vogue. |
| 1762 Goldsm. Cit. W. lxxxviii, Language-masters, music-masters, *hair-frizzers. |
| 1889 ‘Mark Twain’ Connecticut Yankee 354, I flung out a *hair-lifting, soul-scorching thirteen-jointed insult. |
| 1840 T. A. Trollope Summer Brittany I. 324 The profit thus netted by these *hair-mongers, during a tour through the country. |
| 1647 Trapp Comm. Cor. xi. 14 Homer calleth the Greeks *hair-nourishing men. |
| 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 532/3 *Hair Remover. 1951 M. M{supc}Luhan Mech. Bride 60/2 Hair removers..are backed by long-standing national advertising campaigns. |
| 1713 Lond. Gaz. No. 5154/4 William Bell..*Hair-seller. |
| 1725 Ibid. No. 6382/11 Charles Parker..*Hair-Stainer. |
| 1898 Today 5 Nov. 18/1 ‘The *Hair Straightener Company manufactures an instrument that will at once remove the curl from the most stubborn hair...’ It would be a waste of money..to advertise its wares in a climate like ours, where the moisture of the atmosphere does more *hair straightening than is conducive to feminine happiness. 1966 J. S. Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing 74/2 Hair-straightener, (1) A preparation to straighten frizzy or over-curly hair. (2) An implement that straightens frizzy hair. 1966 B.B.C. Handbk. 25 Could we broadcast something about a new hair straightening cream? |
| 1892 Queen 27 Feb. in L. de Vries Vict. Advts. (1968) 42/1 Automatic *hair waver and curler..Price 2s. 6d. 1895 Army & Navy Co-op Soc. Price List. 15 Sept. 180/2 Hair Wavers (Patent). 1966 J. S. Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing 75/1 Hair-waver, (1) An implement such as waving irons by the use of which hair can be waved. (2) Any apparatus such as a permanent waving machine which heats the hair wound on curlers during the permanent waving process. (3) A person who waves hair. |
d. instrumental, as
hair-bottomed,
hair-hung,
hair-suspended adjs. e. similative and parasynthetic, as
hair-coloured,
hair-fissure,
hair-pointed,
hair-stripe,
hair-shaped etc.
adjs. Also
hair-streak, -stroke, -worm.
| 1818 Keats Let. 5 July (1958) I. 319 *Hair bottomed chairs. 1678 Lond. Gaz. No. 1272/4 A *hair-coloured large Suit. |
| 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 138 A *hair fissure is perceptible..in the upper hieroglyphic. |
| 1742 Young Nt. Th. ii. 300 *Hair-hung, breeze-shaken, o'er the Gulph. |
| 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 376 Leaves egg-spear-shaped, *hair-pointed. 1832 Lindley Introd. Bot. 385 Hair-pointed..terminating in a very fine, weak point; as the leaves of many mosses. |
| Ibid. 376 *Hair-shaped..the same as filiform, but more delicate, so as to resemble a hair. |
| 1920 Blackw. Mag. Aug. 161/2 They would, I understand, be described by tailors as ‘fine cachemire with *hair-stripe suitable for gents' morning wear’. |
| 1821 Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 398 Like the Sicilian's *hair-suspended sword. |
| 1868 Whittier Among the Hills i, The hangbird..His *hair-swung cradle straining. |
10. Special
Combs.:
hair bag, (
a) a bag made of hair or of very thin thread; (
b) a bag in which human hair is kept; (
c) (see
quot. 1966);
hair-ball (see
quot. 1753);
hair-bird, a popular name of the chipping-bird (
Zonotrichia socialis) of North America;
hair-bracket (see
quot. 1867);
† hair-bramble, the dewberry,
Rubus cæsius;
hair-brown (see
quot.);
† hair-bush, a bushy head of hair;
hair-button, a button made with hair;
hair-colour, (
a) ?
= hair-brown; (
b) the colour of a person's hair;
hair-compasses, compasses which can be regulated to the utmost nicety; see
quot.;
hair-cord, (
a) a fabric of which the surface is covered with fine stripes so closely placed as to resemble hairs; (
b) a cord made of human hair;
hair crack Metallurgy = hair-line 7;
hair-cut,
haircut, (
a) an act of cutting the hair by a hairdresser; (
b) the shape or style in which the hair is cut; (
c) a customer for a hair-cut;
hair-drawn a., drawn out as fine as a hair;
hair-eel, a kind of filiform worm inhabiting stagnant water;
hair-follicle, the cylindrical depression in the skin from which a hair grows, extending through the corium to the subcutaneous connective tissue;
hair-hygrometer, a hygrometer depending upon the expansion of hair when exposed to damp;
hair-kiln, a hop kiln covered with a haircloth on which the hops are spread out to dry;
hair-lead, a very thin lead used for spacing in printing;
hair-lichen, an eruption attacking the roots of the hair;
hair-locket, a locket for holding a lock of hair;
hair-man, a man who dresses or makes up hair;
hair-mattress, a mattress stuffed with hair;
† hair-meal, a hair's breadth, the extent of a hair;
hair-mole (
-mold), a mole on the skin, having a hair or hairs on it;
hair-moss, a moss of the genus
Polytrichum;
† hair-needle = hairpin;
hair-net (see
net n.1 3); so
hair-netted a.;
† hair-patch, haircloth;
hair-pencil, a painter's brush made of camel's hair or the like;
hair-piece, a length of false hair used to augment the natural hair;
hair-plate, the plate at the back of a bloomery;
hair-point Bot., an extension of the nerve at the top of some moss leaves, forming a fine tip;
hair-pyrites, a synonym of
millerite;
hair-raising a., capable of causing the hair to ‘stand on end’ through fear or excitement; so
hair-raiser;
hair-raisingly adv.;
hair-restorer, a preparation used to promote the growth of hair;
hair-sac = hair-follicle;
hair-salt [
Ger. haarsalz,], a name given to alunogen;
hair-seal, an eared seal of the family Otariidæ, sub-family Tricophocinæ;
hair-slip, a place on a green hide where the grain has decayed causing the hair to slip; so
hair-slipped a., marked with decayed places;
† hair-slitting a., hair-splitting (
fig.);
hair-space, a very thin space used in printing;
hair-spring, (
a) the fine hair-like spring in a watch which serves to regulate the movement of the balance-wheel; (
b) of a trap (perhaps
spring n.3 rather than
n.1);
hair-stone [
Ger. haarstein], a synonym of
sagenite;
hair-style, a particular way of dressing the hair; hence
hair-styling vbl. n.;
hair-stylist;
† hair-tail, a name given to fishes of the family Trichiuridæ,
esp. Trichiurus lepturus;
hair-tail worm = hair-eel;
hair-tidy, a tidy [
tidy n. c] for hair-combings;
hair-trim [
trim n. 3 d];
hair-trunk, a trunk covered with skin retaining the hair;
hair-tuft (see
quots.);
† hair-weed, a conferva.
| 1712 Mortimer Husb. II. 2 Haws put in a *Hair-bag, and soaked in Water all Winter..will come up the first Year. 1723 J. Nott Cook's & Confectioner's Dict. §136 To make cider..stamp your Apples, press them in a Hair Bag. 1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery vi. 65 Strain it through a coarse Hair-bag..then strain it through a Hair-sieve. 1824 J. Morier Adv. Hajji Baba xvii. 188 The different operations of rubbing with the hand, and of the friction with the hair bag. 1911 R. G. Anderson in 4th Rep. Wellcome Tropical Res. Lab. B. 253 By Blood⁓brotherhood is meant a mutual coalition... The rite..consists in incising the other's forehead..drinking the outflow of blood, smearing an adjacent lock of hair in its residue, and cutting this off to keep..in a neatly woven hair bag as a charm. 1966 J. S. Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing 69/2 Hair-bag,..a bag to hold the queue of a bag-wig. |
| 1712 J. Morton Nat. Hist. Northampt. vii. 451 In the Stomachs of these..the *Hair-Balls are compos'd. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Hair-balls, masses of hair of different shapes and sizes found in the stomachs of cows, oxen, calves, deer, and other animals. |
| 1869 J. Burroughs in Galaxy Mag. Aug., The social-sparrow, alias ‘*hair-bird’, alias ‘red-headed chipping-bird’, is the smallest of the sparrows. |
| 1823 Crabb Technol. Dict., *Hair-bracket. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Hair-bracket, the moulding at the back of the figure-head. |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens vi. iv. 661 The Bramble is of two sortes..the great and the smal..The lesser berie is called..a *heare Bramble..The fruite is called a Dewberie. |
| 1850 Ansted Elem. Course, *Hair brown, a colour formed of brown with a little yellow and grey. |
| 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Chevelure, the *haire bush. 1583 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 65 Wee ruffled his hearebush. |
| 1593 Acc. Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 371, iiij grose of *haire bottonnes. 1785 Boswell Tour Hebrides i, He wore a full suit of plain brown clothes, with twisted hair-buttons of the same colour. |
| 1615 Markham Eng. Housew. (1660) 123 If you will dye your wool of a bright *haire colour. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 36 Pure hair colour dapled with green. Ibid. 62 Cockroaches..of a pure hair-colour. 1885 J. Beddoe Races of Brit. xiii. 144 The division of hair-colours..into red, fair, brown, dark, and black. 1906 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. XXXVI. 325 Such statistics as those..of eye colour, hair colour, as in many anthropological works. 1972 Woman 22 Jan. 17 Do you know that British women spend a staggering {pstlg}10 million a year on changing their hair colour? |
| 1727–51 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Compasses, *Hair Compasses, so contrived with-in side, as to take an extent to a hair's breadth. 1807 T. Young Lect. Nat. Philos. I. x. 101 When great accuracy is required, hair compasses may be employed, having a joint with a spring in one of the legs which is bent a little by means of a fine screw. |
| 1866 in A. Adburgham Shops & Shopping (1964) xii. 133, 1 White *hair cord dressing jacket. 1899 T. Watts-Dunton Aylwin ii. 46 ‘This is her hair,’ he said, taking the hair⁓cord between his fingers and kissing it. 1920 L. Harmuth Dict. Textiles (ed. 2), Haircord, English dress muslin made with thick warp cords. 1923 Weekly Dispatch 18 Feb. 12 (Advt.), Useful Shirt in White Haircord Voile. 1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 34/1 For a..hair cord carpet, herring-bone the raw edges on the underside. 1960 Textile Terms & Defs. (ed. 4) 76 Haircord carpet, a carpet produced by weaving over unbladed wires. |
| 1896 Trans. Inst. Naval Archit. XXXVII. 215 A 10 in. steel shaft..had shown fine *hair cracks on the surface near the propeller. 1925 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXI. 113 A defect known as snow-flakes or flakes (America), hair-cracks or hair-lines (Great Britain), Flocken (Germany), and cassures ligneuses (France), has received much attention among manufacturers and inspectors of alloy steel forgings. 1959 J. H. Thornley Foundation Design & Pract. xiii. 103/2 The test for hair cracks consists merely of cleaning the pile and washing or immersing it in a tinted fluid. |
| 1899 Westm. Gaz. 5 Dec. 8/1 The trade in Pretoria was kept very busy for about ten days giving the burghers a commando *hair-cut. 1900 Ibid. 22 Jan. 2/3 He won mainly on his promise that he would reform the city barber into charging two dollars fifty cents for a hair-cut. 1904 Daily Chron. 8 Apr. 4/7 The barbers of Bethlehem, Pa., have raised the price of haircuts from sevenpence to tenpence. 1923 Glasgow Herald 10 Feb. 8/8 Commenting upon how few of his customers in recent days had been ‘haircuts’, he remarked... ‘The change of the moon always brings more haircuts out.’ 1924 R. Macaulay Orphan Island xviii. §2. 241 They were interrupted by Mr. Albert Edward Smith, who had come for a shave and a hair-cut. |
| 1882–3 Schaff Encycl. Relig. Knowl. II. 1304 Its lengthy and *hair-drawn dialectics. |
| 1895 Brewer Dict. Phrase & Fable, *Hair Eels, these filiform worms belong to the species Gordius aquaticus, found in stagnant pools. |
| 1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 9/1 Into each *hair-follicle..there open the ducts of one or two little glands. |
| 1878 Nares Polar Sea I. xii. 319 The *hair-hygrometer continues to work in an unsatisfactory manner. |
| 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 754 Where *hair kilns are in use..charcoal is had recourse to. |
| 1888 Jacobi Printer's Vocab., *Hair leads, very thin leads—mostly sixteen to a pica—rarely used nowadays. |
| 1854–67 C. A. Harris Dict. Med. Terminol., *Hair Lichen, an eruption confined to the roots of the hair, followed, after ten days, by desquamation. |
| 1679 Lond. Gaz. No. 1379/4 A *Hair Locket, set round with small Table Diamonds. |
| 1689 Ibid. No. 2477/4 He took her from a *Hair-man upon the Highway. 1723 Ibid. No. 6170/9 James Mathewson..Hairman. |
| 1836 in Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc. (1892) 2nd Ser. VII. 276 Mine an upper berth; a *hair mattress to lie on. 1863 J. Nash Brit. Pat. 2681, I..take an ordinary wool, hair, or other mattrass, and fasten it..to the top of the spring frame. 1931 Times 16 Mar. 2/7 Box-springs, hair mattresses. |
| c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. ii. §38 Whan the shadwe of the pyn entreth any-thyng with-in the cercle of thi plate an *her-mele. |
| 1680 Lond. Gaz. No. 1496/4 A *hair mold on his left Cheek. |
| 1867 J. Hogg Microsc. ii. i. 311 The undulating *Hair-moss..is found on most shady banks. |
| 1865 M. Eyre Lady's Walks xv. 185 Quilts, mittens, *hair-nets, and other articles knitted, of Pyrenean wool. 1873 Young Englishwoman Jan. 38/2 Hair nets..may either be worked with coloured silk or, if intended for night wear, with white cotton. 1958 C. Fremlin Hours before Dawn ii. 22 The wisps of untidy grey hair protruding from her hairnet. |
| 1950 J. Cannan Murder Included ii. 21 Elizabeth Hudson,..high- collared, *hair-netted. 1951 E. Coxhead One Green Bottle vi. 164 The hair-netted lady at the next table. |
| c 1611 Chapman Iliad xiv. Comm., Stuff nothing so substantial, but such gross sowtege or *hair-patch as every goose may eat oats through. 1674 N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. iv. (1686) 38 Take an Hair-patch, and rub his Body all over. |
| 1763 Gentl. Mag. XXXIII. 83/2 Let the spots be gently rubbed with a *hair pencil. 1775 Phil. Treas. LXV. 243 It may..be cleansed by wiping it with a soft hair-pencil. 1965 Listener 26 Aug. 316/2 Modelling, carving and engraving, prowess with the inked hair⁓pencil: these complete the specifically aesthetic skills of the Chinese. |
| 1939 Time 25 Dec. 2/3 He wears a toupee (*hairpiece or divot in Hollywood) for cinema and most public appearances. 1957 V. J. Kehoe Technique Film & T.V. Make-Up vi. 78 Incidentally, a wig covers not only the hair line, but the entire area of the hair on the head, while hairpieces are used to supplement the natural hair growth. 1969 Times 20 Mar. 27/1 The man sitting next to you may be wearing a hairpiece. |
| 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss. s.v. Bloomary, The sides are iron plates, the *hair-plate at the back, the cinder-plate at the front, etc. |
| 1818 Hooker & Taylor Muscologia Brit. 25 P[olytrichum] juniperinum... Except in the want of the *hair-points to the leaves..we can find no essential difference between this and the preceding species [sc. P[olytrichum] piliferum]. 1893 H. G. Jameson Illustr. Guide Brit. Mosses 10 The single nerve [of the leaf] may either cease below..or in..the apex, or may run out beyond it so as to be excurrent, forming a mucro.., cusp.., or hair-point. 1966 Oxf. Bk. Flowerless Plants 74/2 In the form [of Grimmia apocarpa] shown here the leaves are tinged reddish-brown and have white ‘hair points’. |
| 1805 R. Jameson Syst. Min. II. 263 *Hair- or Capillary-Pyrites. |
| 1897 Westm. Gaz. 16 Nov. 3/2 The writer being put on his mettle merely to throw in what an American has felicitously called *‘hair-raisers’ by the way. 1900 Daily News 24 Apr. 7/5 The hair-raising, long, steep descent of Box Hill. 1902 Daily Chron. 16 Sept. 3/4 Marvellous yarns of hair-raising perils. 1928 Daily Express 17 Aug. 9/1 There were a few hair-raising mishaps, but nobody was hurt. 1957 Times 30 Aug. 8/6 A runaway 70-ton Army transporter..careered downhill into the village of Carlton, Notts., to-day at 60 m.p.h. after its brakes had failed... ‘It was a hair-raising experience..’ said Driver Lee. 1960 Times 15 Feb. 15/2 England had left it hair-raisingly late, but it was enough. |
| 1873 Young Englishwoman Aug. 414/1 Helena has heard ‘*hair restorers’ so much condemned. 1893 Leland Mem. II. 266 The search for a good hair-restorer..is as vain as the search for happiness. |
| 1866 Huxley Phys. xii. 292 A hair..is at first wholly enclosed in a kind of bag, the *hair sac. |
| 1795 Schmeisser Syst. Min. I. 270 *Hair salt..is of a silvery-white color. |
| 1824 Pettigrew Papers Shipping & Commercial List 31 July (D.A.E.), About 500 *hair Seal Skins,..were sold by auction. 1846 R. B. Sage Scenes Rocky Mts. vi. 56 A hair-seal cap and a frock-coat. 1865 Boyd Swartzen 106 Greenland hair-seal, South-Sea fur-seal. 1894 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. II. 107 The fur-seals are, of course, far more valuable commercially than the hair-seals. |
| 1903 L. A. Flemming Pract. Tanning 265 Grading and Classification of Green Calf-Skins... Second, regular No. 1... Scores are allowed in this grade, but there must be no holes, *hair slips or other bad imperfections. Ibid., Third, good No. 2. This term designates those skins that are slightly hair slipped. |
| 1683 Kennett tr. Erasm. on Folly 139 Our *hair-slitting and irrefragable Doctor. |
| 1843 Penny Cycl. XXV. 455/1 The smallest kind, which are called, from their extreme thinness, *hair-spaces. |
| 1707 Mortimer Husb. xi. 244 With the small Stick (gently put into the hole to stop the knot of the *Hair-spring,..) place it in the Earth in the Moles passage. 1830 Kater & Lardn. Mech. xiv. 195 A spiral spring..called a hair spring. 1854 Thoreau Walden 37 With consummate skill he has set his trap with a hair springe..and then..got his own leg into it. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. II. 1049 Hair-springs are made of fine steel, which comes upon spools like thread. |
| 1913 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Oct. 91/1 Mme. Fried is prepared to show all of the latest..*Hair Styles. 1944 M. Laski Love on Supertax ix. 84 She longed for some new perfume, a new hair⁓style. 1963 V. Nabokov Gift ii. 139 He had a remarkable hair style that was also somehow indecent. |
| 1936 Harper's Bazaar Mar. 88/4 They specialise particularly in *‘Hair Styling’, which of course means designing coiffures to fit the individual, as well as carrying them out. 1960 Guardian 19 Apr. 2/5 The Princess had led the world's hair-styling fashion. She had been ‘an ambassadress’ of British hair-styling. |
| 1935 ‘Madame Louise’ Mod. Hair Cutting & Styling 15 A *hair stylist is a hairdresser who has the artistic ability to suggest and create a new hair fashion. 1950 ‘P. Quentin’ Follower i. 6 One of her clients at Maurice's, where she worked as a hair-stylist. |
| 1860 Gosse Rom. Nat. Hist. 354 The ribbon-fishes..some of these, as the *hair-tail..are of large size. 1880 Gunther Fishes 436 The ‘Hair-tails’ belong to the tropical marine fauna. 1854 Mayne Expos. Lex., Hair-Tail Worm, common name for the Gordius aquaticus. |
| 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 1164 Silver-mounted *Hair Tidy. 1918 ‘K. Mansfield’ Prelude 11 She..found nothing except a hair-tidy with a heart painted on it. 1935 Punch 15 May 592/1 The whole affair of the rejection of Miss Rinse's beaded hair-tidy from our Institute Exhibition has been most unfortunate. 1960 B. Snook Eng. Hist. Embroidery 116 It suddenly became genteel to embroider..hair tidies, pin-cushions, spectacle and comb cases and what-nots. |
| 1957 S. Beckett All that Fall 30 *Hairtrims and shaves. |
| 1693 Lond. Gaz. No. 2832/4 A yellow *Hair Trunk Mail. 1881 Poynter Among Hills I. 311 Her feet planted on her little hair-trunk in front. |
| 1905 E. Phillpotts Secret Woman i. ii. 21 The *hair-tufts of his eyebrows had been tawny, but they were now turning. 1923 G. A. Gaskell Dict. Sacred Lang. 335/2 Hair tuft between the eyebrows of Buddha: An emblem of spiritual truth within the soul. |
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., *Hair-weed, conferva, in botany, the name of a genus of mosses. |
▸
hair wrap n. a plait or lock of hair which has been tightly wrapped in (usually coloured) thread (
cf. earlier
hair wrapping n. at Additions).
| 1990 Washington Times (Nexis) 13 Feb. e7 ‘Braids, Cornrows, Dreadlocks and *Hair Wraps’, a workshop on African-American hair braiding. 1998 Sunday Mirror (Electronic ed.) 8 Nov. Hair wraps and beads:..the craze..entailed wrapping a fine piece of hair with coloured threads and beads. |
▸
hair wrapping n. a hairstyling technique in which one or more thin plaits or locks of hair are wrapped tightly in (
esp. coloured) thread.
| 1979 Essence July 74/1 Hair wrapping is an art form anyone can learn... Short or long hair can be wrapped using black thread, gold cording or wool strips. 1990 J. C. Peters Braids, Cornrows, Dreadlocks, & Hair Wraps 2 Braiding, and hair-wrapping to a lesser extent, continued to be practiced in its most basic forms for as long as there have been African Americans, nearly five hundred years. 1999 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant (Nexis) 22 Sept. b3 An on-site caricaturist, hair wrapping and wooden pumpkin painting. |
▪ II. hair, v. [f. prec. n.] Hence
hairing vbl. n. † 1. trans. (?) To edge with hair or fur.
Sc. Obs.| 1539 Inv. R. Wardrobe (1815) 37 (Jam.) Lynit with quhit furring, and harit with martrikis sabill. 1578 Ibid. 219 (Jam.) Ane..gowne..pasmentit with silver and a haring of martrikkes. |
2. trans. To free from hair; to depilate.
| 1802–14 C. Findlater Agric. Surv. Peebles 81 (Jam.) This practice..was called hairing the butter. 1824 Mech. Mag. No. 30. 32 By his method, raw hides, after hairing and baiting, are converted into leather in less than 30 hours. 1888 Milit. Engineer. I. ii. 55 The hair is removed with a semi-circular knife, called a hairing-knife. |
3. intr. a. ‘To produce or grow hair.’ (
Cent. Dict.)
b. ‘To produce hair-like fibres: said of maple-sirup when boiled so low as to string out when dripped from a spoon.’ (Funk.)
4. trans. To fit hairs to (a violin-bow).
| 1898 H. R. Haweis Old Violins 116 Most violinists prefer to pay a small sum and get their bows haired. |
▪ III. hair obs. form of
hare,
here n.,
hoar.