hair

 
Pronunciation: /hɛː/

noun

  • 1any of the fine thread-like strands growing from the skin of humans, mammals, and some other animals: coarse outer hairs overlie the thick underfur thick black hairs on his huge arms
  • a fine thread-like strand growing from the epidermis of a plant, or forming part of a living cell: scalloped leaves edged with silver hairs it damages the cilia, tiny hairs that clear invading bacteria from the lung
  • 2 [mass noun] hairs collectively, especially those growing on a person’s head: her shoulder-length fair hair
  • 3 (a hair) a very small quantity or extent: his magic takes him a hair above the competition

Phrases

hair of the dog

informal an alcoholic drink taken to cure a hangover.
[from hair of the dog that bit you, formerly recommended as an efficacious remedy for the bite of a mad dog]

a hair's breadth

a very small amount or margin: you escaped death by a hair’s breadth

in (or out of) someone's hair

informal annoying (or ceasing to annoy) someone: they sent him to America, just to get him out of their hair

keep your hair on!

British informal used to urge someone not to panic or lose their temper.

let one's hair down

informal behave uninhibitedly: let your hair down and just have some fun

make someone's hair stand on end

alarm or horrify someone: any kind of siren makes my hair stand on end

not turn a hair

remain apparently unmoved or unaffected: if I was told I’d been sacked tomorrow, I don’t think I’d turn a hair

split hairs

make small and overfine distinctions: one of those medieval disputes which split hairs endlessly

Derivatives

haired

adjective
[in combination]: a curly-haired boy

hair-like

adjective

Origin:

Old English hǣr, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch haar and German Haar