(n.) A barb or sharp point of an arrow or other instrument, projecting backward to prevent the head from being easily drawn out.
(n.) An imposition; a trick.
(n.) In insects, the hairs of the labial palpi of moths and butterflies.
(n.) Long or stiff hairs on a plant; the awn; as, the beard of grain.
(n.) That part of a type which is between the shoulder of the shank and the face.
(n.) That part of the under side of a horse's lower jaw which is above the chin, and bears the curb of a bridle.
(n.) The appendages to the jaw in some Cetacea, and to the mouth or jaws of some fishes.
(n.) The byssus of certain shellfish, as the muscle.
(n.) The cluster of small feathers at the base of the beak in some birds
(n.) The gills of some bivalves, as the oyster.
(n.) The hair that grows on the chin, lips, and adjacent parts of the human face, chiefly of male adults.
(n.) The long hairs about the face in animals, as in the goat.
(v. t.) To deprive of the gills; -- used only of oysters and similar shellfish.
(v. t.) To oppose to the gills; to set at defiance.
(v. t.) To take by the beard; to seize, pluck, or pull the beard of (a man), in anger or contempt.