/ heə(r); NAmE her/ noun
1.
[ U , C ] the substance that looks like a mass of fine threads growing especially on the head; one of these threads growing on the body of people and some animals :
fair / dark hair
straight / curly / wavy hair
to comb / brush your hair
( informal )
I'll be down in a minute. I'm doing (= brushing, arranging, etc.) my hair .
I'm having my hair cut this afternoon.
body / facial / pubic hair
There's a hair in my soup.
The rug was covered with cat hairs.
—picture at body
—see also camel hair , horsehair
2.
-haired (in adjectives) having the type of hair mentioned :
dark-haired
long-haired
3.
[ C ] a thing that looks like a fine thread growing on the leaves and stems of some plants
•
IDIOMS
- get in sb's hair
- the hair of the dog (that bit you)
- keep your hair on
- let your hair down
- make sb's hair stand on end
- not harm / touch a hair of sb's head
- not have a hair out of place
- not turn a hair
—more at hang verb , hide noun , split verb , tear (I) verb
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English hǣr , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch haar and German Haar .