Scalp

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Scalp, n. [Cf. Scallop.].

 A bed of oysters or mussels.  [1913 Webster]

Scalp, n. [Perhaps akin to D. schelp shell. Cf. Scallop.].

•  That part of the integument of the head which is usually covered with hair.  [1913 Webster]

  "By the bare scalp of Robin Hodd's fat friar,
  This fellow were a king for our wild faction!"  [1913 Webster]
•  A part of the skin of the head, with the hair attached, cut or torn off from an enemy by the Indian warriors of North America, as a token of victory.  [1913 Webster]
•  Fig.: The top; the summit.  Macaulay.  [1913 Webster]

Scalp lock, a long tuft of hair left on the crown of the head by the warriors of some tribes of American Indians.

Scalp, v. t. 

•  To deprive of the scalp; to cut or tear the scalp from the head of.  [1913 Webster]
•  To remove the skin of.  [1913 Webster]

  "We must scalp the whole lid [of the eye]."  [1913 Webster]
•  To brush the hairs or fuzz from, as wheat grains, in the process of high milling.  Knight.  [1913 Webster]

Scalp, v. i. 

 To make a small, quick profit by slight fluctuations of the market; -- said of brokers who operate in this way on their own account.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Scalp, n. & v.
--n.
1 the skin covering the top of the head, with the hair etc. attached.
2 a hist. the scalp of an enemy cut or torn away as a trophy by an American Indian. b a trophy or symbol of triumph, conquest, etc.
3 Sc. a bare rock projecting above water etc.
--v.tr.
1 hist. take the scalp of (an enemy).
2 criticize savagely.
3 US defeat; humiliate.
4 US colloq. resell (shares, tickets, etc.) at a high or quick profit.

Derivative

scalpless adj.

Etymology

ME, prob. of Scand. orig.

THESAURUS

Scalp

bark, be caught short, be short, belong, bucket, bucketshop, decorticate, deposit margin, excoriate, flay, go long, hold on, make a killing, make a scoop, margin up, miss the market, operate, overstay the market, pare, peel, play the market, plunge, pyramid, scoop the market, skin, speculate, stag, stag the market, strip, take a flier, trade on margin, venture

ROGET THESAURUS

Scalp

Divestment

VB divest, uncover &c (cover), denude, bare, strip, disfurnish, undress, disrobe &c (dress, enrobe), uncoif, dismantle, put off, take off, cast off, doff, peel, pare, decorticate, excoriate, skin, scalp, flay, expose, lay open, exfoliate, molt, mew, cast the skin.