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bald

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bald

[bawld]
–adjective
1. having little or no hair on the scalp: a bald head; a bald person.
2. destitute of some natural growth or covering: a bald mountain.
3. lacking detail; bare; plain; unadorned: a bald prose style.
4. open; undisguised: a bald lie.
5. Zoology. having white on the head: the bald eagle.
6. Automotive. (of a tire) having the tread completely worn away.
–verb (used without object)
7. to become bald.
–noun
8. (often initial capital letter) Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. a treeless mountaintop or area near the top: often used as part of a proper name.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME ball(e)d, equiv. to ball white spot (cf. Welsh bal, Gk phaliós having a white spot) + -ed -ed 3


baldish, adjective
baldly, adverb
baldness, noun


4. bare, barefaced, flagrant, patent, utter, out-and-out, downright, flat-out.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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bald   (bôld)   
adj.   bald·er, bald·est
  1. Lacking hair on the head.

  2. Lacking a natural or usual covering: a bald spot on the lawn.

  3. Lacking treads: a bald tire.

  4. Zoology Having white feathers or markings on the head, as in some birds or mammals.

  5. Lacking ornamentation; unadorned.

  6. Undisguised; blunt: a bald statement of policy.


[Middle English balled, probably from bal, ball; see ball1.]
bald'ly adv., bald'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

bald 
1297, ballede, probably from Celt. bal "white patch, blaze" especially on the head of a horse or other animal (from PIE base *bhel- "gleaming, white") + M.E. -ede adjectival suffix. The PIE base is also the source of Skt. bhalam "brightness, forehead," Gk. phalos "white," L. fulcia "coot" (so called for the white patch on its head), Alb. bale "forehead," O.C.S. belu "white," Lith. balnas "pale." The proper name Ballard probably means "bald head," cf. Wyclif "Stye up, ballard," where Coverdale translates "Come vp here thou balde heade" [2 Kg.2:23-24, where God kills 42 children for making fun of Elijah's lack of hair.] Bald eagle first attested 1688.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: bald
Pronunciation: 'bold
Function: adjective
: lacking all or a significant part of the hair on the head or sometimes on other parts of the body —bald intransitive verb
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

bald (bôld)
adj. bald·er, bald·est
Lacking hair on the head.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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