scalp

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, Middle Dutch schelpe (“shell”).

• IPA^(key): /skælp/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ælp

scalp (plural scalps)

1. (now dialectal) The top of the head; the skull.

   Synonym: skull

2. The part of the head where the hair grows from, or used to grow from.
   • c. 1590–1591, 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 606515358, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     By the bare scalpe of Robin Hoods fat Fryer, / This fellow were a King, for our wilde faction.

   • 2014, Five years after beating, Ryan Diviney's family holds out hope, Baltimore Sun‎:

     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.

3. (historical) A part of the skin of the head, with the hair attached, formerly cut or torn off from an enemy by warriors in some cultures as a token of victory.

   Some tribes used to collect scalps to prove how many of the enemy they had killed in battle.

4. (heraldry) The skin of the head of a stag with the horns attached.
5. (figuratively) A victory, especially at the expense of someone else.
   • 1993, John Frohnmayer, Leaving Town Alive: Confessions of an Arts Warrior, page 331:

     Pat Buchanan, in his ongoing presidential quest, claimed his first scalp, and Donald Wildmon's newsletter chortled that his efforts in opposing the NEA had paid off.

   • 2021 May 5, Drachinifel, Battle of Samar - What if TF34 was there?‎, archived from the original on 19 August 2022, retrieved 31 August 2022, 46:28 from the start:

     Admiral Lee, aboard USS Washington, can content himself with the fact that his ship has claimed the scalp, or helped claim the scalp, of three out of the four Kongō class, and has landed meaningful hits on Nagato and Yamato as well, making it the single most successful U.S. battleship in history.

6. (Scotland) A bed or stratum of shellfish.

   Synonym: scaup

7. (figurative) The top; the summit.

   Synonym: summit

   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, OCLC 1069526323:

     the snowy scalp of Ben Cruachan

• scalped
• scalpless
• scalpy

scalp (third-person singular simple present scalps, present participle scalping, simple past and past participle scalped)

1. To remove the scalp (part of the head from where the hair grows), by brutal act or accident.
   • 2001, Peter Cozzens, Eyewitnesses to the Indian Wars, 1865-1890: Conquering the Southern Plains, Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 507:

     Next morning, the Indians attacked us and one of our hunters, George Huffman, was killed and scalped. As soon as Baldwin heard the shooting, he came to our assistance.

2. (Canada, US, slang) To resell, especially tickets, usually for an inflated price, often illegally.

   Synonym: resell

   Tickets were being scalped for $300.

   • 2011, Linda E. Swayne, Encyclopedia of Sports Management and Marketing, SAGE, →ISBN, page 324:

     Tickets sold online through Craigslist, eBay, and other forums, where the purchaser cannot physically see them, run a greater risk of being counterfeit—but counterfeiters have been known to scalp tickets in person outside the venue as well, […]

3. (gambling) To bet on opposing competitors so as to make a profit from the bookmaker.
   • 1961, John Scarne, Complete Guide to Gambling (page 102)

     The only sure thing about scalping the Series today is that the scalper is paying the bookie a greater profit because he is making a greater number of bets.

4. (finance) On an open outcry exchange trading floor, to buy and sell rapidly for one's own account, aiming to buy from a seller and a little later sell to a buyer, making a small profit from the difference (roughly the amount of the bid/offer spread, or less).
5. To screen or sieve ore before further processing.

   Synonym: sieve

   scalped ore

6. (surgery) To remove the skin of.
   • 1870, J. S. Wells, Treatise on the Diseases of the Eye:

     |passage=We must […] "scalp" the whole lid [of the eye].}}
7. (transitive) To remove the grass from.
8. (transitive) To destroy the political influence of.
9. (milling) To brush the hairs or fuzz from (wheat grains, etc.) in the process of high milling[1].

• scalper
• scalping
• unscalped

• calps, claps, clasp

Borrowed from English scalp.

• IPA^(key): /skɑlp/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: scalp

scalp m (plural scalpen or scalps)

1. scalp (hair-covered skin, especially as a trophy)

• scalperen

From French scalp.

scalp n (plural scalpuri)

1. scalp