Bald (ba̤ld), a. [OE. balled, ballid, perh. the p. p. of ball to reduce to the roundness or smoothness of a ball, by removing hair. √85. But cf. W. bali whiteness in a horse's forehead.] 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.” Lowell.
4. Destitute of dignity or value; paltry; mean.
5. (Bot.) Destitute of a beard or awn; as, bald wheat.
6. (Zoöl.) (a) Destitute of the natural covering. (b) Marked with a white spot on the head; bald-faced.
Bald buzzard(Zoöl.), the fishhawk or osprey. — Bald coot(Zoöl.), a name of the European coot (Fulica atra), alluding to the bare patch on the front of the head.