/skælp/
OriginFrom 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, Dutch schelp (“shell”).
- dialectalThe top of the head; the skull.
- The part of the head where the hair grows from, or used to grow from.
“By the bare scalpe of Robin Hoods fat Fryer, / This fellow were a King, for our wilde faction.”
“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.”
- historicalA 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.”
“The most disturbing thing about Disneyland is seeing all those smiling people walking around wearing Mickey Mouse's severed scalp.”
- The skin of the head of a stag, to which the horns are attached.
“He bears for Arms : Argent, on a chevron invected gules, between two bugle-horns sable, stringed of the second in chief, and the attires of a stag affixed to the scalp in base of the third, two fasces”
- figurativelyA victory, especially at the expense of someone else.
“[At the American State Convention in 1856 the Hon E. M. Yerger of Yazoo said that] he came up to the great council fire of his people, not like his friends Cobb, Hillyer and Brooke, with no scalps at ”
“His mind is quick to perceive a weak place in the enemy's armor, as he glances over the exchanges, and when he "goes for" a solitary foe he always returns with the scalp hanging at his girdle.”
“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.”
- ScotlandA bed or stratum of shellfish.
- figurativelyThe top; the summit.
“the snowy scalp of Ben Cruachan”
- To remove the scalp (part of the head from where the hair grows), by brutal act or accident.
“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.”
- Canada, US, slangTo resell, especially tickets, usually for an inflated price, often illegally.
“Tickets were being scalped for $300.”
“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 tick”
“Scalped tickets were going for $3,000 and up.”
- To bet on opposing competitors so as to make a profit from the bookmaker.
“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.”
- 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).
- To screen or sieve ore before further processing.
- To remove the skin of.
“We must […]"scalp" the whole lid [of the eye].”
- transitiveTo remove the grass from.
- transitiveTo destroy the political influence of.
- To brush the hairs or fuzz from (wheat grains, etc.) in the process of high milling.
Formsscalps(plural) · scalps(present, singular, third-person) · scalping(participle, present) · scalped(participle, past) · scalped(past)
Source: Wiktionary