guard hair
- noun
- /ɡɑrd hɛr/
- Specialized
:
pelo protector
- stiff guard hairs
- long guard hairs
Examples
-
In better light, she noted the gray back with its stiff guard hairs, the darker underparts, and the distinctive black-and-white striped face, verifying that it was, indeed, a badger.
Fiction book (1990) -
The pelt was in fall prime, colored dark brown with yellow and silver guard hairs.
-
Most have the double coat distinctive to northern breeds, with rough guard hairs over a woolly undercoat.
-
Eddie set the muskrat on a workbench under an overhead light and began stroking the lustrous dark guard hairs on the animal's back.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'coarse outer hairs that protect the underfur' is directly derivable from combining 'guard' (protective) with 'hair' (strands on skin); the compound reads as 'protective hair'. This is a regular attributive noun compound following common English and cross-linguistic patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Guard hair The noun guard hair comes from the idea that the longer, thicker guard hairs form a shield over the soft undercoat. They 'protect' the underfur from dirt, water, and cold, so guard hair means 'the outer hairs that protect the softer underfur'.
