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the growth of hair on the face of an adult man, often including a mustache.
Zoology. a tuft, growth, or part resembling or suggesting a human beard, as the tuft of long hairs on the lower jaw of a goat or the cluster of hairlike feathers at the base of the bill in certain birds.
Botany. a tuft or growth of awns or the like, as on wheat or barley.
a barb or catch on an arrow, fishhook, knitting needle, crochet needle, etc.
Also called bevel neck. Printing.

the sloping part of a type that connects the face with the shoulder of the body.
British. the space on a type between the bottom of the face of an x-high character and the edge of the body, comprising both beard and shoulder.
the cross stroke on the stem of a capital G.

to seize, pluck, or pull the beard of:
The hoodlums bearded the old man.
to oppose boldly; defy:
It took courage for the mayor to beard the pressure groups.
to supply with a beard.
Historical Examples

It would be like bearding a pack of hungry wolves; in fact, flinging away his life.
The Vee-Boers Mayne Reid

But, my Cid, better to think of bearding the lion than of celebrating the hunting.
God Wills It! William Stearns Davis

Also, the bevelling of any piece of timber or plank to any required angle: as the bearding of dead wood, clamps, &c.
The Sailor’s Word-Book William Henry Smyth

He had no notion of bearding any of the Confederate lionesses in their dens.
Gabriel Tolliver Joel Chandler Harris

Could he not best serve the administration by bearding disunionism in its den?
Stephen A. Douglas Allen Johnson

She had more to say, and yet hesitated about bearding the lion.
The Man From Brodney’s George Barr McCutcheon

They are not afraid of bearding him, browbeating him with threats, and roundly accusing him of his faults.
Studies of the Greek Poets (Vol I of 2) John Addington Symonds

Ask her Aunt Priscilla—and I certainly wasn’t going to run the risk—like bearding a tigress in her den with impertinent questions!
A Likely Story William De Morgan

It was the most squalid of Gretnas, bearding the decency and common-sense of a whole metropolis.
The Town Leigh Hunt

Stripping the dead and picking up lost arms was more profitable than bearding the three lions.
A Friend of Caesar William Stearns Davis

noun
the hair growing on the lower parts of a man’s face
any similar growth in animals
a tuft of long hairs in plants such as barley and wheat; awn
the gills of an oyster
a barb, as on an arrow or fish-hook
(slang) a woman who accompanies a homosexual man to give the impression that he is heterosexual
(printing) the part of a piece of type that connects the face with the shoulder
verb (transitive)
to oppose boldly or impertinently
to pull or grasp the beard of
n.

Old English beard “beard,” from West Germanic *barthaz (cf. Old Frisian berd, Middle Dutch baert, Old High German bart, German bart), seemingly from PIE *bhardh-a- “beard” (cf. Old Church Slavonic brada, Lithuanian barzda, and perhaps Latin barba “beard”).

The Greek and Roman Churches have long disputed about the beard. While the Romanists have at different times practised shaving, the Greeks, on the contrary, have strenuously defended the cause of long beards. Leo III. (795 AD) was the first shaved Pope. Pope Gregory IV., after the lapse of only 30 years, fulminated a Bull against bearded priests. In the 12th century the prescription of the beard was extended to the laity. Pope Honorius III. to disguise his disfigured lip, allowed his beard to grow. Henry I. of England was so much moved by a sermon directed against his beard that he resigned it to the barber. Frederick Barbarossa is said to have been equally tractable. [Tom Robinson, M.D., “Beards,” “St. James’s Magazine,” 1881]

Pubic hair sense is from 1600s (but cf. neþir berd “pubic hair,” late 14c.); in the 1811 “Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue,” the phrase beard-splitter is defined as, “A man much given to wenching” (see beaver).

v.

c.1300, “to grow or have a beard,” from beard (n.). The sense of “confront boldly and directly” is from Middle English phrases such as rennen in berd “oppose openly” (c.1200), reproven in the berd “to rebuke directly and personally” (c.1400), on the same notion as modern slang get in (someone’s) face. Related: Bearded; bearding.
beard
(bîrd)
A tuft or group of hairs or bristles on certain plants, such as barley and wheat. The individual strands of a beard are attached to a sepal or petal.

noun

An up-to-the-minute, alert person; hipster (1950s+ Beat & cool talk)
A person used as an agent to conceal the principal’s identity: Use him as a beard, is what Donny thought he’d do/ He’s the beard. That’s what they call the other man who pretends to be the lover (1980s+ Gambling)
A bearded man, esp someone of apparent dignity and authority: I can’t believe the sainted beards would bang me with a manufactured case (1700s+)
The pubic hair; beaver, bush (late 1600s+)

verb

: She says Rollins was supposed to beard for him

Related Terms

graybeard

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).