noun
sideburn
A strip of hair growing down the side of the face in front of the ear.
He trims each sideburn so both sides of his face match.
Etymology
Sideburn developed by rearranging burnsides, named after Ambrose Burnside's conspicuous facial hair. The altered form makes the hair's position at the side of the face explicit.
More examples
- Her sideburns curl slightly in front of her ears.
- The barber left my sideburns a little too long.
- I accidentally shaved off part of my left sideburn.
Forms
sideburn · sideburns
Similar words
- whiskers
- Refers broadly to facial hair, not just strips near ears.