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Webster 1913 Edition

Beard

Beard

(bērd)
,
Noun.
[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.
(Zool.)
(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.

Beard

(bērd)
,
Verb.
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 face; to set at defiance.
No admiral,
bearded
by these 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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Beard

BEARD

,
Noun.
berd. [L.barba.]
1.
The hair that grows on the chin,lips and adjacent parts of the face,chiefly of male adults; hence a mark of virility. A gray beard, long beard and reverend beard, are terms for old age.
2.
Beard is sometimes used for the face, and to do a thing to a man's beard,is to do it in defiance, or to his face.
3.
The awn or sharp prickles on the ears of corn. But more technically, parallel hairs or a tuft of stiff hairs terminating the leaves of plants, a species of pubescence. By some authors the name is given to the lower lip of a ringent corol.
4.
A barb or sharp point of an arrow, or other instrument, bent backward from the end to prevent its being easily drawn out.
5.
The beard or chuck of a horse, is that part which bears the curb of a bridle,underneath the lower mandible and above the chin.
6.
The rays of a comet, emitted towards that part of the heaven to which its proper motion seems to direct it.
7.
The threads or hairs of an oyster, muscle or similar shell-fish, by which they fasten themselves to stones.
8.
In insects, two small, oblong, fleshy bodies, placed just above the trunk, as in gnats, moths and butterflies.

BEARD

,
Verb.
T.
berd. To take by the beard; to seize, pluck, or pull the beard, in contempt or anger.
1.
To oppose to the face; to set at defiance.
I have been bearded by boys.

Definition 2024

Beard

Beard

See also: beard

English

Proper noun

Beard

  1. A surname​.

Anagrams

beard

beard

See also: Beard

English

A person with a prominent beard

Noun

beard ‎(plural beards)

  1. Facial hair on the chin, cheeks and jaw.
  2. The cluster of small feathers at the base of the beak in some birds.
  3. The appendages to the jaw in some cetaceans, and to the mouth or jaws of some fishes.
  4. The byssus of certain shellfish.
  5. The gills of some bivalves, such as the oyster.
  6. In insects, the hairs of the labial palpi of moths and butterflies.
  7. (botany) Long or stiff hairs on a plant; the awn.
    the beard of grain
  8. A barb or sharp point of an arrow or other instrument, projecting backward to prevent the head from being easily drawn out.
  9. That part of the underside of a horse's lower jaw which is above the chin, and bears the curb of a bridle.
  10. (printing, dated) That part of a type which is between the shoulder of the shank and the face.
  11. (LGBT, slang) A fake customer or companion, especially a woman who accompanies a gay male in order to give the impression that he is heterosexual.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Verb

beard ‎(third-person singular simple present beards, present participle bearding, simple past and past participle bearded)

  1. (obsolete) To grow hair on the chin and jaw.
  2. To boldly and bravely oppose or confront, often to the chagrin of the one being bearded.
    Robin Hood is always shown as bearding the Sheriff of Nottingham.
    • Macaulay
      No admiral, bearded by three corrupt and dissolute minions of the palace, dared to do more than mutter something about a court martial.
    • Crockett Johnson Barnaby, December 6, 1943
      We need all our operatives to insure the success of my plan to beard this Claus in his den...
    • Ross Macdonald, The Chill, 1963, pg.92, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
      . . . I bearded the judge in his chambers and told him that it shouldn't be allowed.
  3. (transitive) To take by the beard; to seize, pluck, or pull the beard of (a man), in anger or contempt.
  4. (transitive) To deprive (an oyster or similar shellfish) of the gills.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

Etymology

Originally a nickname for someone with a beard.

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