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beard |
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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