Scalp Meaning
/skælp/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe top of the head; the skull.
nounThe part of the head where the hair grows from, or used to grow from.
Sentence Examples
My scalp is very itchy.
She scratched her itch through the scalp to the brain.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The barber applied a soothing cream to the customer's ____ after the shave.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The dermatologist examined the patient's ____ for signs of psoriasis or fungal infection.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English scalp, skalp, scalpe (“crown of the head; skull”). Originally a northern word, and therefore probably from a North Germanic source, although the sense-development is unclear; compare Sylt North Frisian Skolp (“dandruff”), Old Norse skálpr (“sheath”), Old Swedish skalp, Dutch schelp (“shell”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"By the bare scalpe of Robin Hoods fat Fryer, / This fellow were a King, for our wilde faction."
— c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
"The original titanium mesh plate that was inserted in the summer of 2010 was removed last June since it was causing his scalp to break down."
— 2014, Kaitlin Newman, “Five years after beating, Ryan Diviney's family holds out hope”, in Baltimore Sun, archived from the original on 10 Nov 2014:
"The most disturbing thing about Disneyland is seeing all those smiling people walking around wearing Mickey Mouse's severed scalp."
— 2018 September 14, Norm Macdonald Has a Show, season 1, episode 6, spoken by Norm Macdonald:
"He bears for Arms : Argent, on a chevron invected gules, between two bugle-horns sable, stringed of the second in chief, and the attires of a stag affixed to the scalp in base of the third, two fasces chevronways or."
— 1899, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, Armorial Families: A Directory of Some Gentlemen of Coat-armour, Showing which Arms in Use at the Moment are Borne by Legal Authority, page 313:
"[At the American State Convention in 1856 the Hon E. M. Yerger of Yazoo said that] he came up to the great council fire of his people, not like his friends Cobb, Hillyer and Brooke, with no scalps at his girdle that he had had a fight and a glorious victory."
— 1856 January 25, “Editorial Correspondence”, in The Weekly American Banner, Yazoo City, Miss., page 3:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The barber applied a soothing cream to the customer's ____ after the shave.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The dermatologist examined the patient's ____ for signs of psoriasis or fungal infection.