beard

Meanings

Plural: beards

Noun

the hair growing on the lower part of a man's face
a tuft or growth of hairs or bristles on certain plants such as iris or grasses
a person who diverts suspicion from someone (especially a woman who accompanies a male homosexual in order to conceal his homosexuality)
hairy growth on or near the face of certain mammals
tuft of strong filaments by which e.g. a mussel makes itself fast to a fixed surface
Facial hair on the chin, cheeks, jaw and neck.
The cluster of small feathers at the base of the beak in some birds.
The appendages to the jaw in some cetaceans, and to the mouth or jaws of some fishes.
The byssus of certain shellfish.
The gills of some bivalves, such as the oyster.
In insects, the hairs of the labial palpi of moths and butterflies.
Long or stiff hairs on a plant; the awn.
Long, hair-like feathers that protrude from the chest of a turkey
A barb or sharp point of an arrow or other instrument, projecting backward to prevent the head from being easily drawn out.
The curved underside of an axehead, extending from the lower end of the cutting edge to the axehandle.
That part of the underside of a horse's lower jaw which is above the chin, and bears the curb of a bridle.
That part of a type which is between the shoulder of the shank and the face.
A fake customer or companion; an intermediary.
One who helps to conceal infidelity in a monogamous relationship by acting as a cover.
A fake customer or companion; an intermediary.
A woman who accompanies a gay man, or a man who accompanies a lesbian, in order to give the impression that the person being accompanied is heterosexual.
A fake customer or companion; an intermediary.

Verb

go along the rim, like a beard around the chin
- "Houses bearded the top of the heights"
To grow hair on the chin and jaw.
To boldly and bravely oppose or confront, often to the chagrin of the one being bearded.
To take by the beard; to seize, pluck, or pull the beard of (a man), in anger or contempt.
To deprive (an oyster or similar shellfish) of the gills.
Of bees, to accumulate together in a beard-like shape.
Of a gay man or woman: to accompany a gay person of the opposite sex in order to give the impression that they are heterosexual.

Origin / Etymology

PIE word
*bʰardʰéh₂
From Middle English berd, bard, bærd, from Old English beard, from Proto-West Germanic *bard, from Proto-Germanic *bardaz (compare West Frisian burd, Dutch baard, German Bart). Cognate further to Latin barba, Lithuanian barzda, Russian борода́ (borodá): the word may date to Proto-Indo-European as *bʰardʰeh₂, *bʰh₂erdʰeh₂. Doublet of barb.

Synonyms

byssus, face fungus, whiskers

Scrabble Score: 8

beard is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
beard is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
beard is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 9

beard is a valid Words With Friends word