# dreads

Pronunciation: say "DREDZ" /dɹɛdz/

## Verb

1. Third-person singular simple present of dread. — third-person singular simple present indicative of dread
   - Simple: Third-person singular simple present of dread. Use it after "he", "she", "it" or one person or thing.
   - _Every student dreads the week of final exams._
   - _My grandmother dreads flying, so she takes the train whenever she can._

## Noun

2. Dreadlocks: hair worn in long, ropelike strands that are matted or twisted together. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Hair that is twisted or matted into long, thick ropes, also called dreadlocks.
   - _After six years, his dreads were thick enough to tie back with a bandanna._
   - _She washes her dreads with a soap that won't leave buildup._
3. A Rastafarian, a person who follows the Rastafari movement.
   - Simple: A person who follows the Rastafarian faith.
   - _The elder dreads of the neighborhood were treated with quiet respect._
   - _Several dreads spoke at the meeting about protecting the island's farmland._

## Origin

**Meanings 2–3** — A shortening of dreadlocks. The sense "a Rastafarian person" arose by synecdoche, naming the person by the hairstyle.
**Meaning 1** — Formed from dread + the suffix -s.

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