# bearded

Pronunciation: say "BEER-did" US /ˈbɪɹdəd/, UK /ˈbɪədɪd/

## Adjective

1. Having a beard, or involving a beard in some way.
   - Simple: Having a beard, or having to do with a beard.
   - _A bearded stranger in a flannel shirt asked us for directions to the ferry._
   - _Fans argued over whether the bearded version of the detective was better than the clean-shaven one._
2. Having a beard, or a growth like a beard, of the kind named by the word it is joined to.
   - Simple: With a certain kind of beard, or something like a beard, named by the word in front of it.
   - _A red-bearded fisherman hauled the dripping nets onto the dock._
   - _Moss-bearded oaks lined the narrow road into town._
3. Having a beardlike fringe or appendage, often followed by with and the thing forming it.
   - Simple: Having a part or edge that looks a little like a beard, often followed by with.
   - _Old oaks bearded with Spanish moss shaded the road to the plantation._
   - _The farmer held up the bearded heads of barley, each one bristling with long spikes._
6. Of an ax: having the lower part of the head drawn down so the cutting edge reaches well below the butt, giving a wide blade at a low weight.
   - Simple: Used of an ax whose blade reaches far down at the bottom, so it cuts wide but stays light.
   - _The smith forged a bearded ax with a long edge and a slim, light head._
   - _Reenactors at the festival carried bearded axes copied from medieval designs._
7. In heraldry, having barbs of a particular color.
   - Simple: In coats of arms, having its sharp hooked points shown in a certain color.
   - _The blazon describes a black arrow bearded gold on a silver field._
   - _Her new banner showed three green arrows, each bearded in white._

## Verb

4. Past tense and past participle of beard. — simple past and past participle of beard
   - Simple: Past tense and past participle of beard. Use it for an action that already happened.
   - _The young reporter bearded the senator outside the hearing room with three hard questions._
   - _On the hottest afternoons the bees bearded on the front of the hive._

## Noun

5. In gardeners' informal shorthand, a bearded iris. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A short, casual name that gardeners use for a bearded iris.
   - _The tall bearded by the mailbox finally opened, a deep velvety purple._
   - _At the spring garden show, the beardeds drew the biggest crowds._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 6–7** — From Middle English berded, which either comes from Old English ġebearded or was formed anew in Middle English; it can be analysed as beard + -ed. Compare Dutch bebaarde, Middle Low German bārt and archaic German gebartet, all meaning “bearded”.
**Meanings 4–5** — Formed from beard with the suffix -ed.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bearded (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).