hair
[ hair ]
/ hɛər /
noun
any of the numerous fine, usually cylindrical, keratinous filaments growing from the skin of humans and animals; a pilus.
an aggregate of such filaments, as that covering the human head or forming the coat of most mammals.
a similar fine, filamentous outgrowth from the body of insects, spiders, etc.
Botany.
a filamentous outgrowth of the epidermis.
cloth made of hair from animals, as camel and alpaca.
a very small amount, degree, measure, magnitude, etc.; a fraction, as of time or space: He lost the race by a hair.
Idioms for hair
Origin of hair
before 900; Middle English
heer, Old English
hǣr (cognate with Dutch, German
haar, Old Norse
hār), with vowel perhaps from Middle English
haire hair shirt < Old French < Old High German
hāria (cognate with Middle English
here, Old English
hǣre, Old Norse
hǣra)
OTHER WORDS FROM hair
hair·like, adjective de·hair, verb (used with object)WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH hair
hair hareWords nearby hair
hainan,
hainan strait,
hainaut,
haines city,
haiphong,
hair,
hair bulb,
hair cast,
hair cell,
hair disk,
hair follicle
British Dictionary definitions for split hairs
hair
/ (hɛə) /
noun
Derived forms of hair
hairlike, adjectiveWord Origin for hair
Old English
hær; related to Old Norse
hār, Old High German
hār hair, Norwegian
herren stiff, hard, Lettish
sari bristles, Latin
crescere to grow
Medical definitions for split hairs
hair
[ hâr ]
n.
Any of the cylindrical, keratinized, often pigmented filaments characteristically growing from the epidermis of a mammal.
A growth of such filaments, as that forming the coat of an animal or covering the scalp of a human.
One of the fine hairlike processes of a sensory cell.
Scientific definitions for split hairs
hair
[ hâr ]
One of the fine strands that grow from the skin of mammals, usually providing insulation against the cold. Modified hairs sometimes serve as protective defenses, as in the quills of a porcupine or hedgehog, or as tactile organs, as in the whiskers (called vibrissae) of many nocturnal mammals. Hair filaments are a modification of the epidermis of the skin and are composed primarily of keratin. Hair also contains melanin, which determines hair color.
A slender growth resembling a mammalian hair, found on insects and other animals.
A fine, threadlike growth from the epidermis of plants. See more at trichome.
Cultural definitions for split hairs
split hairs
To argue about an inconsequential and trivial aspect of an issue: “When you are accused of being forty-five minutes late for an appointment, you are splitting hairs to say that you were really only forty minutes late.”
Idioms and Phrases with split hairs (1 of 2)
split hairs
Make trivial distinctions, quibble, as in Let's not split hairs about whose turn it is; I'll close up today and you do it tomorrow. This metaphoric idiom transfers dividing so fine an object as a single hair to other petty divisions. [Second half of 1600s]
Idioms and Phrases with split hairs (2 of 2)
hair