# eyebrow

Pronunciation: say "EYE-brow" /ˈaɪˌbɹaʊ/

## Noun

1. The strip of hair that grows along the bony ridge above each eye socket.
   - Simple: The line of hair that grows just above each eye.
   - _A scar split her left eyebrow in two._
   - _He darkened his eyebrows with a pencil before the shoot._
3. A usually small dormer whose roofline forms an arched curve over its face, then reverses into a wave to meet the horizontal line at each end.
   - Simple: A small window that rises from a roof under a low, wavy curve.
   - _The architect tucked an eyebrow into the front slope to bring daylight into the loft._
   - _Restoring the Victorian house's eyebrows required steam-bending each rafter by hand._
4. A clump of waste fibers that builds up on the rollers of a textile machine.
   - Simple: A lump of waste fiber that collects on a roller inside a textile machine.
   - _She paused the carding line to pick an eyebrow off the top roller._
   - _Frequent eyebrows on the rollers signaled that the fiber was running too short._

## Verb

2. To convey a message or signal to someone by moving the eyebrows.
   - Simple: To send someone a silent message by moving your eyebrows.
   - _He can eyebrow a question across a crowded room without saying a word._
   - _She eyebrowed her sister a quiet warning during dinner._
5. Of waste fiber, to gather and build up into a clump on a roller within a machine.
   - Simple: Of waste fiber, to slowly build up into a clump on a roller.
   - _Short-staple cotton will eyebrow on the doffer if the speed is set wrong._
   - _The line eyebrowed badly overnight, clogging the top roller._

## Origin

It comes from Middle English eȝebreu, an alteration of Old English ēaganbrū ("eyebrow"), and is equivalent to "eye" plus "brow." A related Old English word, ēagbrǣw, meant "eyelid," and it can be compared with Dutch oogbrauw and German Augenbraue.

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