baldness

Everyday

1. Having little or no hair on the head. tree →
2. The state of a surface being bare, without its usual covering (the baldness of a worn tyre). tree →

In the lessons

In science and health it is described as hair loss, often in older men and sometimes caused by illness or medicine. In stories it describes a character's look. Phrases: male-pattern baldness, going bald.

Examples

• Baldness often runs in families. tree →
• Grandpa jokes about his baldness. tree →
• Some medicines can cause baldness for a while. tree →
• His baldness made him easy to spot in the crowd. tree →
• Many men start going bald as they get older. tree →
• The bald eagle is not really bald; it has white feathers on its head. tree →

Note

Uncountable: no plural. Adjective: bald (a bald man, a bald tyre). Myth: wearing hats does not cause baldness. Be kind: talking about someone's baldness can be rude.

In Jewish tradition

Making a bald patch on the head as a sign of mourning for the dead. The Torah forbids this to Israel and especially to priests.

Interpretation. The tradition reads this as a ban on pagan mourning customs. Israel are children of God, so they should not tear at their bodies in grief, and the law is later read as a call to mourn without despair.

Examples

• Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. (Torah DEU.14.1, JPS 1917) tree →
• They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corners of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh. (Torah LEV.21.5, JPS 1917) tree →
• Baldness is come upon Gaza, Ashkelon is brought to nought, the remnant of their valley; how long wilt thou cut thyself? (Prophets JER.47.5, JPS 1917) tree →
• And in that day did the Lord, the GOD of hosts, call to weeping, and to lamentation, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth; (Prophets ISA.22.12, JPS 1917) tree →
• They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads. (Prophets EZK.7.18, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Uncountable: no plural. Adjective: bald (a bald man, a bald tyre). Myth: wearing hats does not cause baldness. Be kind: talking about someone's baldness can be rude.