blackhead

UK/ˈblæk.hɛd/US/ˈblæk.hɛd/

nounB1+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,105 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: blackheads

A blackhead is a blocked pore with a dark surface. Squeeze a blackhead, blackheads on the nose, treat the blackheads.

The dark colour is not dirt but oxidised oil, which is why scrubbing harder does nothing. Squeezing them damages the skin, and the treatments that work are the ones that keep the pore clear rather than empty it.

Definitions of blackhead

1nounblackheadA blocked pore with a dark surface.B1+
“She washed her face every night to get rid of the blackheads on her nose.”

blackhead is a blemish.

Where it comes from

From black + head.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Hair & Grooming

Practise this word

blackhead in the wild

A comedo can be open (blackhead) or closed by skin (whitehead) and occur with or without acne.
Comedo
Turkeys are much more susceptible to getting blackhead than are chickens.
Histomoniasis
The Hawaiian blackhead triplefin (Enneapterygius atriceps), also known as the Hawaiian triplefin in Hawaii, is a species of triplefin blenny in the genus Enneapterygius.
Hawaiian blackhead triplefin
Enneapterygius rhothion, the New Caledonian blackhead surf triplefin or surf triplefin, is a species of triplefin blenny in the genus Enneapterygius.
Enneapterygius rhothion

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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