Definition of "beard" []

• The hair on a man's chin, cheeks, and throat. (noun)
• A hairy or hairlike growth such as that on or near the face of certain mammals. (noun)
• A tuft or group of hairs or bristles on certain plants, such as barley and wheat. (noun)
• One who serves to divert suspicion or attention from another. (noun)
• Printing The raised slope on a piece of type between the shoulder or counter and the face. Also called neck. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "_Whiskin 'beard_, a beard like the whiskers of a cat."
• "Keimer wore his beard at full length, because somewhere in the Mosaic law it is said, "_Thou shalt not mar the corners of thy beard_.""
• "The valance is the fringes or drapery hanging round the tester of a bed.] [Footnote II. 55: _Com'st thou to beard me_] To _beard_ anciently meant to set _at defiance_."