Bald a.
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.”
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.
◄ ►
Coot n.
1. Zool. (a) A wading bird with lobate toes, of the genus Fulica. The common European or bald coot is Fulica atra (see under bald); the American is Fulica Americana. (b) The surf duck or scoter. In the United States all the species of (Œdemia are called coots. See Scoter. “As simple as a coot.”
2. A stupid fellow; a simpleton; as, a silly coot. [Colloq.]
◄ ►
Fulica atra
n : Eurasian coot [syn: Old World coot]