beard
    n 1: the hair growing on the lower part of a man's face [syn:
         beard, face fungus, whiskers]
    2: a tuft or growth of hairs or bristles on certain plants such
       as iris or grasses
    3: a person who diverts suspicion from someone (especially a
       woman who accompanies a male homosexual in order to conceal
       his homosexuality)
    4: hairy growth on or near the face of certain mammals
    5: tuft of strong filaments by which e.g. a mussel makes itself
       fast to a fixed surface [syn: byssus, beard]
    v 1: go along the rim, like a beard around the chin; "Houses
         bearded the top of the heights"

Beard \Beard\ (b[=e]rd), 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.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To oppose to the face; to set at defiance.
      [1913 Webster]

            No admiral, bearded by these corrupt and dissolute
            minions of the palace, dared to do more than mutter
            something about a court martial.      --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To deprive of the gills; -- used only of oysters and
      similar shellfish.
      [1913 Webster]

Beard \Beard\ (b[=e]rd), 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.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. The hair that grows on the chin, lips, and adjacent parts
      of the human face, chiefly of male adults.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Zool.)
      (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.
          [1913 Webster]

   3. (Bot.) Long or stiff hairs on a plant; the awn; as, the
      beard of grain.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A barb or sharp point of an arrow or other instrument,
      projecting backward to prevent the head from being easily
      drawn out.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. (Print.) That part of a type which is between the shoulder
      of the shank and the face.
      [1913 Webster]

   7. An imposition; a trick. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

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).
   

BEARD, n.  The hair that is commonly cut off by those who justly
execrate the absurd Chinese custom of shaving the head.