Hair getting off one's head

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,

What verb should be used to describe hair getting off one’s head? I find ‘fall’ and ‘drop’ not very suitable…

Thank you very much.

2

I am balding.
I am losing my hair.

3

Hi Mister Micawber,

Let me make it a bit more general: I want to know about the verb that describe the action of something getting off from another that it was previously attached to (I know about the usages you mentioned, but I want to specifically decribe the action of hair getting off from one’s head). Another example would be leaves getting off from branches.

I ask this question because there is such a verb to describe such actions in my language, and I wonder if there’s an equivalent in English.

Many thanks again.

4

‘Hair is falling from my head.’ / ‘My hair is falling out’ is perfectly suitable.
You can also say ‘my hair is coming out’ but it isn’t as accurate.

Leaves are falling from the branches.

5

Hi Abc,

The medical word is alopecia.

Alan

6

Perhaps the word you’re looking for is “to shed”.
As in “descidious trees shed their leaves annually”.

I’m not sure if a person can shed hair (although a person can shed tears) - native speakers must have a final say in this matter =)

7

‘Shed’ works, Tort.

8

Hi there, Alan,

Had you by any chance noticed that Abc was asking for a verb? One that could also be used with trees losing leaves?
:wink:

As far as I know, ‘alopecia’ is a noun and refers only to hair loss – or more specifically, the absence of hair from a place where it would normally grow or had previously grown…


Abc, if you used the noun 'alopecia' to talk about a person who is bald or balding, you could use a verb phrase such as 'suffer (from)' or 'be afflicted with'. For everyday English, however, it would be quite normal to say things such as 'My hair is falling out' or 'I lost all my hair years ago' or, as MM mentioned, 'I am losing my hair', for example.

And for trees, as Bev has also already mentioned, it's quite normal to say that 'the leaves are falling (from the trees)'.  Occasionally, people also use the verb 'drop' in such a context. For example: The trees have dropped all of their leaves.
I doubt that 'drop' would ever be used to refer to hair-loss, though.

Tort's verb suggestion (shed) was also a very good one, though it would be used more typically to refer to animals losing hair. It's also possible to say that 'the trees are shedding their leaves'.
[color=darkblue]___________________________________________________
[i][size=75]"I don't consider myself bald, I'm just taller than my hair." ~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca[/size][/i]
9

Thank you very very much, everybody :slight_smile: