Beard1, n.
(beerd), n. [A-S. beard, Fries. berd, D. baard, Ger. bart, Lith. barzda, Slav. brada, Pol. broda, Russ. boroda, Lat. barba, W. barf, Arm. barō.]
Sense 1. The hair that grows on the chin, lips, and adjacent parts of the face, chiefly of male adults.
Sense 2. (Zoöl.) (a.) The long hairs about the lower part of the face or head in animals, as the beard of the goat. (b.) The cluster of small feathers at the base of the beak in some birds, as the Bucco. (c.) The appendages to the jaw in some cetacea. (d.) The byssus of certain shell-fish, as the Pinna, consisting of fine threads, by which they fasten themselves to stones, &c. (e.) The gills or respiratory organs of some bivalves, as the oyster. (f.) In insects, two small, oblong, fleshy bodies placed just above the trunk, as in the gnats, moths, and butterflies. Dana.
Sense 3. (Bot.) Long or stiff hairs on a plant; the awn; as, the beard of grain.
Sense 4. A barb or sharp point of an arrow, or other instrument, bent backward to prevent its being easily drawn out.
Sense 5. That part of a horse, underneath the lower jaw and above the chin, which bears the curb of a bridle.
Sense 6. (Astron.) The rays of a comet, emitted toward that part of the heaven to which its proper motion seems to direct it.
Sense 7. (Print.) That part of a type which is between the shoulder of the shank and the face. Brande.