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 (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

an oyster colony or a mussel bed, 1521.

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

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