barbering
- 1The trade and skilled practice of cutting and shaving hair.
She studied barbering for two years before opening her own shop.
Modern barbering combines classic cutting techniques with careful beard styling.
Similarhairdressing
Note
A word that carries the barber's long history with it: the trades of barbering and surgery were linked for a long time, and the red-and-white striped pole outside a shop still advertises that partnership. The noun is not only professional, though. A man who has grown lax with his barbering after days in the bush has let his own shaving slide, so the word also covers keeping one's own face and hair in order.
- 2Excessive mutual grooming among pets that wears away fur and leaves bald patches.
Barbering among the lab mice produced patches of missing fur around their muzzles.
Owners often mistake barbering for a skin disease when fur disappears in patches.
Note
The trade lends its name to an animal habit. One animal crops another's coat so closely that it looks as though the barber's craft had been at work. It is noticed especially in caged rodents and rabbits, where cagemates can lose whiskers as well as fur. The name is informal, a vivid comparison rather than a clinical term, and it is formed in the plainest way, from barber + -ing.
Practice
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Origin
Formed from "barber" plus the suffix "-ing."