US /ˈheːɹ/ UK /ˈhɛə̯/
noun Freq #602

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    The mass of fine threads that grow on a person's head.

    She has long brown hair.

  2. 2
    noun

    A single thin thread that grows from the skin of a person or animal.

    There's a hair in my soup.

  3. 3
    noun

    A very small distance or amount.

    They escaped death by a hair.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · the mass of fine threads... mop
2 noun · a single thin thread that... pilus
3 noun · a very small distance or... hairsbreadthwhisker
Word family
Forms hairs
Derived forms asshairballhairblack-hairedbluehairbrown-hairedcamelhaircamelshaircathaircrosshaircurlyhaireddark-haireddeer-hair
Related forms depilatedepilationdepilatordepilatoryepilateepilationepilatorepilatory

Common collocations

Etymology

From Middle English her, heer, hær, from Old English hǣr, from Proto-West Germanic *hār, from Proto-Germanic *hērą (“hair”), from Proto-Indo-European *kes- (“to scrape, comb”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hier, Híer (“hair”), West Frisian hier (“hair”), Cimbrian haar, har (“hair”), Dutch haar (“hair”), German and Low German Haar (“hair”), Luxembourgish Hoer (“hair”), Mòcheno hor (“hair”), Yiddish האָר (hor, “hair”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish hår (“hair”), Faroese and Icelandic hár (“hair”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English cheveler, chevelere (“hair”), borrow…

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Topics

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