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Beard
A beard is the collection of hair that grows on the chin and cheeks of humans and some animals. In humans, usually only pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. From an evolutionary viewpoint the beard is a part of the broader category of androgenic hair. It is a vestigial trait from a time when humans had hair on their face and entire body like the hair on gorillas. The evolutionary loss of hair is pronounced in some populations such as indigenous Americans and some east Asian populations, who have less facial hair, whereas people of European or South Asian ancestry and the Ainu have more facial hair.
Societal attitudes toward male beards have varied widely depending on factors such as prevailing cultural-religious traditions and the current era’s fashion trends. Some religions (such as Sikhism) have considered a full beard to be essential for all males able to grow one, and mandate it as part of their official dogma. Other cultures, even while not officially mandating it, view a beard as central to a man’s virility, exemplifying such virtues as wisdom, strength, sexual prowess and high social status. However, in cultures where facial hair is uncommon (or currently out of fashion), beards may be associated with poor hygiene or a “savage”, uncivilized, or even dangerous demeanor.
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Awn (noun)
The bristle or beard of barley, oats, grasses, etc., or any similar bristlelike appendage; arista.
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Beard (noun)
Facial hair on the chin, cheeks, jaw and neck.
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Beard (noun)
The cluster of small feathers at the base of the beak in some birds.
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Beard (noun)
The appendages to the jaw in some cetaceans, and to the mouth or jaws of some fishes.
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Beard (noun)
The byssus of certain shellfish.
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Beard (noun)
The gills of some bivalves, such as the oyster.
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Beard (noun)
In insects, the hairs of the palpi of moths and butterflies.
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Beard (noun)
Long or stiff hairs on a plant; the awn.
“the beard of grain”
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Beard (noun)
A barb or sharp point of an arrow or other instrument, projecting backward to prevent the head from being easily drawn out.
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Beard (noun)
That part of the underside of a horse’s lower jaw which is above the chin, and bears the curb of a bridle.
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Beard (noun)
That part of a type which is between the shoulder of the shank and the face.
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Beard (noun)
A fake customer or companion, especially a woman who accompanies a gay man in order to give the impression that he is heterosexual.
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Beard (verb)
To grow hair on the chin and jaw.
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Beard (verb)
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.”
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Beard (verb)
To take by the beard; to seize, pluck, or pull the beard of (a man), in anger or contempt.
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Beard (verb)
To deprive (an oyster or similar shellfish) of the gills.