Hypertext Webster Gateway: "beard"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Beard
The mode of wearing it was definitely prescribed to the Jews
(Lev. 19:27; 21:5). Hence the import of Ezekiel's (5:1-4)
description of the "razor" i.e., the agents of an angry
providence being used against the guilty nation of the Jews. It
was a part of a Jew's daily toilet to anoint his beard with oil
and perfume (Ps. 133:2). Beards were trimmed with the most
fastidious care (2 Sam. 19:24), and their neglet was an
indication of deep sorrow (Isa. 15:2; Jer. 41:5). The custom was
to shave or pluck off the hair as a sign of mourning (Isa. 50:6;
Jer. 48:37; Ezra 9:3). The beards of David's ambassadors were
cut off by hanun (2 Sam. 10:4) as a mark of indignity.
On the other hand, the Egyptians carefully shaved the hair off
their faces, and they compelled their slaves to do so also (Gen.
41:14).
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Beard \Beard\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Bearded}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Bearding}.]
1. To take by the beard; to seize, pluck, or pull the beard
of (a man), in anger or contempt.
2. To oppose to the gills; to set at defiance.
No admiral, bearded by three corrupt and dissolute
minions of the palace, dared to do more than mutter
something about a court martial. --Macaulay.
3. To deprive of the gills; -- used only of oysters and
similar shellfish.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Beard \Beard\, n. [OE. berd, AS. beard; akin to Fries. berd, D.
baard, G. bart, Lith. barzda, OSlav. brada, Pol. broda, Russ.
boroda, L. barba, W. barf. Cf. 1st {Barb}.]
1. The hair that grows on the chin, lips, and adjacent parts
of the human face, chiefly of male adults.
2. (Zo["o]l.)
(a) The long hairs about the face in animals, as in the
goat.
(b) The cluster of small feathers at the base of the beak
in some birds
(c) The appendages to the jaw in some Cetacea, and to the
mouth or jaws of some fishes.
(d) The byssus of certain shellfish, as the muscle.
(e) The gills of some bivalves, as the oyster.
(f) In insects, the hairs of the labial palpi of moths and
butterflies.
3. (Bot.) Long or stiff hairs on a plant; the awn; as, the
beard of grain.
4. A barb or sharp point of an arrow or other instrument,
projecting backward to prevent the head from being easily
drawn out.
5. That part of the under side of a horse's lower jaw which
is above the chin, and bears the curb of a bridle.
6. (Print.) That part of a type which is between the shoulder
of the shank and the face.
7. An imposition; a trick. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
{Beard grass} (Bot.), a coarse, perennial grass of different
species of the genus {Andropogon}.
{To one's beard}, to one's face; in open defiance.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
beard
n 1: the hair growing on the lower part of a man's face [syn: {face
fungus}, {whiskers}]
2: a tuft or growth of hairs or bristles on certain plants such
as iris or grasses
3: hairy growth on or near the face of certain mammals
4: tuft of strong filaments by which e.g. a mussel makes itself
fast to a fixed surface [syn: {byssus}]
v : go along the rim, like a beard around the chin; "Houses
bearded the top of the heights"
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