scalp lock
- noun
- /skælp lɑk/
- US
:
trenza
- His head was shaved bald except for a scalp-lock.
Examples
-
His head is shaved into a scalp lock that stands out in the sunlight.
-
His head is shaved into a scalp lock.
Fiction book (1992) -
Slowly the camera slides across the shoulders and back of a large man wearing black plumes in his scalp-lock, and other than a breechcloth, he is almost naked.
Fiction book (1992) -
An Osage warrior with a red scalp lock leaps on the back of Munro's horse, reaching over to stab down into Munro's neck.
Fiction book (1992) -
He pretended to be fierce, but he was young, untested in war, and still wearing his hair in two braids instead of a warrior's scalp lock.
Fiction book (2002) -
The young warrior wore a traditional scalp lock to signify his readiness for battle.
-
She admired the intricate decorations tied into the scalp lock of the Indigenous dancer.
Synonyms
68
3.7
A small bunch of hair that forms a curl
7
6.7
A hairstyle with shaved sides and a long strip of hair down the middle
1
7.9
A long lock of hair often braided or hanging over the shoulder
1
3.8
A hairstyle with shaved sides and a strip of long hair down the middle
A long piece of hair worn, often by men in the past, to show love
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is directly built from 'scalp' (the hair-bearing skin on the top of the head) + 'lock' (a strand or tress of hair), so its meaning—a lock of hair on the scalp—is transparently derivable from the parts. Although the referent is culturally specific and may be less frequent, the noun-noun composition follows normal English patterns and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Scalp lock comes from the literal image of a single long tuft of hair left on a shaved head, with scalp meaning the top of the head and lock meaning a bunch of hair. Many Native American warriors wore a scalp lock as a sign of 'identity' or 'bravery', so today scalp lock means that long tuft of hair.