bald

Everyday

1. Bald means having little or no hair on the head: "my grandad is bald". tree →
2. Bald can mean without the usual covering: "bald tyres" have their grooves worn down and are dangerous. tree →
3. A bald statement or fact is plain and simple, with no extra detail. tree →
4. Balding means losing hair. tree →

In the lessons

In stories and descriptions, bald is a common feature of characters. In science, the bald eagle is not really bald: it has white head feathers. In road safety, bald tyres are dangerous and illegal. Phrases: go bald, bald patch, bald eagle, bald tyres, bald as a coot.

Examples

• My grandpa is bald and wears a cap in the sun. tree →
• Dad has a bald patch on top of his head. tree →
• The bald eagle is the bird of the United States. tree →
• Bald tyres are dangerous on wet roads. tree →
• He started going bald in his twenties. tree →
• The bald fact is that we lost. tree →
• A BALD KNIGHT, who wore a wig, went out to hunt. tree →

Note

Do not confuse bald (no hair) with bold (brave; thick letters) or bawled (cried loudly) — "bawled" sounds the same as bald. Calling someone "baldy" can be rude.

In Jewish tradition

In Leviticus it describes a person whose hair has fallen out. Such a person is still clean.

Interpretation. Baldness alone does not make a person unclean. Only a certain reddish-white mark on a bald spot is a sign of tzaraat, often translated "leprosy". The rabbis taught that the priest must inspect it, and that the condition may come from gossip.

Examples

• And if a man's hair be fallen off his head, he is bald; yet is he clean. (Torah LEV.13.40, JPS 1917) tree →
• And if his hair be fallen off from the front part of his head, he is forehead-bald; yet is he clean. (Torah LEV.13.41, JPS 1917) tree →
• But if there be in the bald head, or the bald forehead, a reddish-white plague, it is leprosy breaking out in his bald head, or his bald forehead. (Torah LEV.13.42, JPS 1917) tree →
• For every head is bald, and every beard clipped; upon all the hands are cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth. (Prophets JER.48.37, JPS 1917) tree →
• Make thee bald, and poll thee for the children of thy delight; enlarge thy baldness as the vulture; for they are gone into captivity from thee. (Prophets MIC.1.16, JPS 1917) tree →
• And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee in bitterness of soul with bitter lamentation. (Prophets EZK.27.31, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Do not confuse bald (no hair) with bold (brave; thick letters) or bawled (cried loudly) — "bawled" sounds the same as bald. Calling someone "baldy" can be rude.