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beard

beard

3 8.3
A tuft of thin threads on some animals or plants
  • noun
  • /bɪrd/
: barba
  • The snail had a beard of fine hairs that helped it sense its environment.

If you remember tree beard out of Lord of the Rings, he had one of the epiphyte like growths off his beard, which was from the Puhu Takawa.

Examples

  • The old tree was covered in an unusual beard of moss, giving it a mystical appearance.

  • So yeah, we have a beard hair pass right there.

  • I think it's like the beard of a Santa figurine.

  • This is a beard!

  • Most mussels have what is commonly called a "beard," also known as byssal threads.

    Blog text (17)
  • A short, stiff mane crested the neck, and a beard dangled beneath the chin.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Stubby horns jutted from their brows; curly beards covered their chins.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The icy fissures cascade into tufts of a long auburn beard, greasy and patched with streaks of lint-gray.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • To reach the hidden pond, we had to walk under the beard of hanging lichen that draped the trees.

Synonyms

hair
vsbeard
1 6.8

Fine soft threads on a plant's surface like the fuzz on a peach

is a coarser tuft or grouping rather than single fine filaments
whiskery beard
vsbeard
4.0

Long, stiff hair on the lower face that sticks out like an animal's

is any tuft of hairs or bristles on plants or animals

Idioms

To confront a powerful person directly in their own place

Compounds

Short pointed facial hair seen in paintings by Van Dyck

1 8.9

A green and grey plant-like growth that hangs from trees like a long beard

old man's beard
  • Specialized
1 8.7

A pale greenish-gray growth with long hairlike strands that hang from tree branches

1 9.2

A hanging grey-green growth on tree branches that looks like a beard

beard worm
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A thin sea animal that lives in a tube on the deep ocean floor and has tentacles

A small evergreen shrub with silvery leaves and pale yellow flowers often grown in gardens

hawk's-beard
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A wild plant with small yellow flowers like a dandelion

A tough grass from North America with leaves that turn pale bronze in autumn

9.9

A plant with groups of white or yellow flowers

crown-beard
  • Specialized
9.9

A plant with clusters of yellow or white flowers

9.9

A short hairy plant with blue-violet or lilac flowers in early spring

long-beard
  • Archaic
9.9

A tall old jug with a long neck and a bearded face that people drink from

An annual plant with yellow flowers that grows in dry parts of the southwestern United States and Mexico

A plant with long groups of bright red flowers and yellow hairs on the lower part of the flower

imperial beard
  • Archaic
9.5

A small narrow patch of chin hair shaped into a short point like an emperor's style

Thick sideburns that grow down the cheeks and join along the jaw, with no mustache

A climbing plant with clusters of small white or pale green flowers

Long, stiff hair on the lower face that sticks out like an animal's

How Large

mane
29 1.0
beard
3 8.3
tuft
11 3.5
bristle
14 3.5
filament
10 5.7

Surface Forms

beard singular
beards plural

Etymology

Beard is used for a tuft on animals or plants because the little clump of hair or threads 'looks like' a man's beard hanging under the chin, as with a mussel. So calling that tuft a beard helps you remember it is a hair-like growth.