hair: Meaning and Definition of

hair

Pronunciation: (hâr), [key]
— n.
  1. any of the numerous fine, usually cylindrical, keratinous filaments growing from the skin of humans and animals; a pilus.
  2. an aggregate of such filaments, as that covering the human head or forming the coat of most mammals.
  3. a similar fine, filamentous outgrowth from the body of insects, spiders, etc.
  4. a filamentous outgrowth of the epidermis.
  5. cloth made of hair from animals, as camel and alpaca.
  6. a very small amount, degree, measure, magnitude, etc.; a fraction, as of time or space: He lost the race by a hair.
  7. to annoy or bother someone: Their snobbishness gets in my hair.
  8. a drink of liquor, supposed to relieve a hangover: Even a hair of the dog didn't help his aching head.
  9. He finally let his hair down and actually cracked a joke.
    1. to relax; behave informally:He finally let his hair down and actually cracked a joke.
    2. to speak candidly or frankly; remove or reduce restraints:He let his hair down and told them about his anxieties.
  10. to strike or fill with horror; terrify: The tales of the jungle made our hair stand on end.
  11. to make unnecessarily fine or petty distinctions: To argue about whether they arrived at two o'clock or at 2:01 is just splitting hairs.
  12. to manifest extreme anxiety, grief, or anger: He's tearing his hair over the way he was treated by them.
  13. perfect to the smallest detail; exactly: The reproduction matched the original to a hair.
  14. without showing the least excitement or emotion.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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