hairs
hairs — 名詞
- hairssingular
- hairsesplural
1. The fine, thread-like strands found on the bodies of people and animals, treated
頭髮絲；毛
人或動物身上的單根毛髮
The fine, thread-like strands found on the bodies of people and animals, treated as individual items that can be counted rather than as one mass.
Nadia found several long grey hairs on her coat after visiting the barber.
Nadia 在去完理髮店後，在外套上發現了幾根長長的白頭髮絲。
countable plural: several + hairs
The old cat left black hairs all over the white sofa.
那隻老貓在白色沙發上留下了一堆黑毛。
Tariq brushed a few stray hairs away from his eyes before putting on his helmet.
Tariq 把幾根亂翹的頭髮從眼前撥開，然後戴上安全帽。
Mert noticed white hairs in his beard when he looked in the mirror this morning.
Mert 今天早上照鏡子時，發現鬍子裡冒出幾根白頭髮。
- strands
More general; can refer to threads of any material (hair, wool, cotton). 'Strands of hair' is more formal than 'hairs'.
- locks
Poetic or literary; usually refers to a bunch or clump of hair on the head, not individual strands.
- tresses
Literary; refers to long, flowing hair on a woman's head, never to animal hair or single strands.
文法句型
hairs (plural count noun)
用法筆記
Unlike the uncountable noun 'hair' (which refers to a mass), 'hairs' is countable and points to individual strands. Use 'hairs' when you want to talk about a specific number of strands — for example, 'three grey hairs' or 'a few stray hairs'.
常見錯誤
2. An extremely tiny margin, distance, or amount — used in fixed expressions such a
極微量；毫釐
極小的差距或數量
An extremely tiny margin, distance, or amount — used in fixed expressions such as 'by a hair' or 'a hair's breadth' to describe a very narrow difference or a close call.
The sprinter won the race by a hair, so the judges studied the photo finish carefully.
那位短跑選手以毫釐之差贏得比賽，裁判們仔細研究了終點照片。
fixed expression: by a hair (narrow margin)
Nila missed the train by a hair and had to wait two hours for the next one.
Nila 差一點點就趕上火車，結果只好等下一班，等了兩個小時。
The taxi missed the cyclist by a hair, and everyone on the street gasped.
那輛計程車差一點就撞到騎腳踏車的人，街上所有人都倒抽一口氣。
Vivek's guess was off by a hair — he said 501, and the real answer was 500.
Vivek 猜的數字只差一點點——他猜 501，正確答案是 500。
The two paintings were different by a hair's breadth, so only an expert could tell them apart.
那兩幅畫只有極細微的差別，只有專家才能分辨。
- miles
Informal, used contrastively: 'by miles' means 'by a very wide margin'.
文法句型
by a hair
a hair's breadth
not by a hair
用法筆記
This sense is restricted to a small set of fixed expressions. 'By a hair' often follows verbs of narrowly achieving or missing something (win, lose, miss, escape). 'A hair's breadth' replaces 'hair' in the same pattern but is slightly more formal.
常見錯誤
3. Thin, hair-like growths on the surface of a plant or other organism, such as the
絨毛；細毛
植物或生物表面的毛狀結構
Thin, hair-like growths on the surface of a plant or other organism, such as the tiny fibres on a leaf, stem, or the body of some insects.
The small hairs on the nettle leaf can sting when you brush against them.
蕁麻葉上的細毛碰到時會扎人。
Dylan examined the fine hairs covering the stem of the tomato plant under a magnifying glass.
Dylan 用放大鏡仔細觀察了番茄莖上的細毛。
collocation: fine hairs + covering + [plant part]
Some caterpillars have poisonous hairs on their bodies to keep predators away.
有些毛毛蟲身上有有毒的細毛，用來嚇走天敵。
The tiny hairs on the edges of the leaf help the plant trap small insects for food.
葉子邊緣的細小絨毛能幫助這種植物捕捉小蟲當食物。
- trichomes
The precise scientific term for plant hairs; far more technical and rarely used outside biology.
- fibres
Broader; can refer to any thread-like structure, including plant hairs, but also to wood, fabric, or muscle fibres.
- bristles
Refers to short, stiff hairs on plants or animals; suggests a rougher texture than 'hairs'.
文法句型
hairs (botanical structures)
用法筆記
This botanical sense is a specialised extension of the 'hair' meaning. It appears mainly in biology or gardening contexts. The word 'trichomes' is the formal scientific term for plant hairs.