scalp

views updated May 18 2018

scalp / skalp/ • n. the skin covering the head, excluding the face. ∎  hist. the scalp with the hair belonging to it cut or torn away from an enemy's head as a battle trophy, esp. by an American Indian.• v. [tr.] hist. take the scalp of (an enemy). ∎ inf. sell (a ticket) for a popular event at a price higher than the official one: tickets were scalped for forty times their face value.ORIGIN: Middle English (denoting the skull or cranium): probably of Scandinavian origin.

scalp

views updated Jun 11 2018

scalp (dial.) top of the head, skull XIII; integument of this XVII. north. ME. scalp, prob. of Scand. orig., but the Eng. senses are not found in any Scand. or other Gmc. lang.: cf. ON. skálpr sheath (Da. dial. skalp shell, husk), MLG. schulpe, MDu. schelpe (Du. schelp) shell.
Hence vb. remove the scalp OF. XVII.

Scalp

views updated Jun 11 2018

Scalp

an oyster colony or a mussel bed, 1521.

Examples : mussel scalp; 1557; oyster scalps, 1862.

scalp

views updated Jun 27 2018

scalp (skalp) n. the skin that covers the cranium and is itself covered with hair.