FORELOCK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does forelock mean? 

• FORELOCK (noun)
  The noun FORELOCK has 2 senses:

1. a lock of hair growing (or falling) over the forehead

2. a lock of a horse's mane that grows forward between the ears

  Familiarity information: FORELOCK used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FORELOCK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A lock of hair growing (or falling) over the forehead

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("forelock" is a kind of...):

curl; lock; ringlet; whorl (a strand or cluster of hair)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "forelock"):

quiff (a prominent forelock (especially one brushed upward from the forehead))

Sense 2

Meaning:

A lock of a horse's mane that grows forward between the ears

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

forelock; foretop

Hypernyms ("forelock" is a kind of...):

hair (a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss)

Holonyms ("forelock" is a part of...):

encolure (the mane of a horse)

 Context examples 

And John would touch his forelock with a solemn way he had that made me think he was the best of men.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I wish you joy, Miss!" and he politely pulled his forelock.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

‘Thank you, sir,’ said the seaman, touching his forelock.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Aye, aye, sir,” answered the cook, and touching his forelock, he disappeared at once in the direction of his galley.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Now, sir, it's got to come to blows sooner or later, and what I propose is to take time by the forelock, as the saying is, and come to blows some fine day when they least expect it.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)