Definition of "follicle" []

• Anatomy A small bodily cavity or sac. (noun)
• Anatomy A crypt or minute cul-de-sac or lacuna, such as the depression in the skin from which the hair emerges. (noun)
• Anatomy An ovarian follicle. (noun)
• Anatomy A spherical mass of cells usually containing a cavity. (noun)
• Botany A dry, single-chambered fruit that splits along only one seam to release its seeds, as in larkspur and milkweed. (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.

• "Once the follicle is heavily damaged or destroyed, it no longer has the ability to grow hair."
• "Another accessory organ of the integument associated with the hair follicle is the sebaceous gland."
• "The hair-growth cycle consists of growth, regression (the hair falls out, destroying the lower part of the follicle), rest (the follicle is dormant), and re-initiation of growth (the follicle repairs itself and grows a new hair)."