Definition of "dreads" [dreads]

• Informal Dreadlocks. (noun-plural)

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.

• "On the other, the characters, as pictured, are recognizably African-American -- Rapunzel's long hair is braided in dreads -- not just sepia-toned drawings of white people."
• "YSU president: Student death at Ohio frat house what every college administrator 'dreads' YSU president: Student death at Ohio frat house what every college administrator 'dreads' - A day after an admired college student was shot dead at an Ohio fraternity house and 11 people were injured, the governor, college officials and friends were hoping to find some explanation for the violence."
• "I must say he looked totally bizarre in it -- the dreads were attached to a rasta gorrita and he looked like something the cat dragged in."