Bald (?), a. [OE. balled, ballid, perh. the p.p. of ball to reduce to the roundness or smoothness of a ball, by removing hair. &root;85. But cf. W. bali whiteness in a horse's forehead.]

1.

Destitute of the natural or common covering on the head or top, as of hair, feathers, foliage, trees, etc.; as, a bald head; a bald oak.

On the bald top of an eminence. Wordsworth.

2.

Destitute of ornament; unadorned; bare; literal.

In the preface to his own bald translation. Dryden.

3.

Undisguised.

" Bald egotism."

Lowell.

4.

Destitute of dignity or value; paltry; mean.

[Obs.]

5. Bot.

Destitute of a beard or awn; as, bald wheat.

6. Zool. (a)

Destitute of the natural covering.

(b)

Marked with a white spot on the head; bald-faced.

Bald buzzard Zool., the fishhawk or osprey. -- Bald coot Zool., a name of the European coot (Fulica atra), alluding to the bare patch on the front of the head.

 

© Webster 1913.