Dictionary
hair
Pronunciation: (hâr), [key]—
n.
1. any of the numerous fine, usually cylindrical, keratinous filaments growing from the skin of humans and animals; a pilus.
2. an aggregate of such filaments, as that covering the human head or forming the coat of most mammals.
3. a similar fine, filamentous outgrowth from the body of insects, spiders, etc.
4. Bot.a filamentous outgrowth of the epidermis.
5. cloth made of hair from animals, as camel and alpaca.
6. a very small amount, degree, measure, magnitude, etc.; a fraction, as of time or space:
He lost the race by a hair.
7. get in someone's hair, Slang.to annoy or bother someone:
Their snobbishness gets in my hair.
8. hair of the dog, Informal.a drink of liquor, supposed to relieve a hangover:
Even a hair of the dog didn't help his aching head. Also,hair of the dog that bit one.
9. let one's hair down, Informal.
a. to relax; behave informally:
He finally let his hair down and actually cracked a joke.
b. to speak candidly or frankly; remove or reduce restraints:
He let his hair down and told them about his anxieties.
10. make one's hair stand on end, to strike or fill with horror; terrify:
The tales of the jungle made our hair stand on end.
11. split hairs, to make unnecessarily fine or petty distinctions:
To argue about whether they arrived at two o'clock or at 2:01 is just splitting hairs.
12. tear one's hair, to manifest extreme anxiety, grief, or anger:
He's tearing his hair over the way he was treated by them. Also,tear one's hair out.
13. to a hair, perfect to the smallest detail; exactly:
The reproduction matched the original to a hair.
14. without turning a hair, without showing the least excitement or emotion.
Also,not turn a hair.Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
