Meaning & use
stray hair
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A single piece of hair that has come loose from the main style or is growing in the wrong place.
Grammar: Countable: use 'a' or a plural, e.g. 'a stray hair', 'stray hairs'.
Patterns
- a stray hair
- stray hairs
- remove a stray hair
- tuck away a stray hair
She checked the mirror for any stray hair before the interview.
A stray hair kept falling across his forehead while he was reading.
The stylist used gel to keep stray hairs in place.
Word forms
| plural | stray hairs |
|---|
Common combinations
- a stray hair
- There was a stray hair on her collar.
- stray hairs
- He brushed away the stray hairs from his face.
- remove a stray hair
- She used tweezers to remove a stray hair from her chin.
Synonyms and how they differ
- loose hair
- Loose hair describes hair that is not tied back, while a stray hair is one that has escaped from the style or is out of place.
Commonly confused: stray hair or strand?
stray hair vs strand
A strand is a single thread or hair, but it is not necessarily out of place; a stray hair is specifically one that has come loose.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
'A stray hair' is countable and singular, so 'a' is needed. 'Stray hair' without an article is uncountable and does not fit here; 'a stray hairs' is incorrect because 'a' cannot go with a plural.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stray hair”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.