What does eyelash mean?
An eyelash is one of the short, curved hairs that grow in a row along the edge of each eyelid. These hairs are far more than decoration: they help shield the eye from dust, debris, and sweat, and their extreme sensitivity triggers the protective blink reflex when an object comes too close. The word is most often used in the plural — 'long eyelashes', 'false eyelashes' — particularly in beauty and grooming contexts, where lashes are curled, tinted, or extended for cosmetic effect. In medicine and biology, the term appears in discussions of eye health, and the singular form is common in descriptive or clinical writing. A related adjective, 'ciliary', derives from the same anatomical idea via Latin. Familiar to speakers of all ages and registers, 'eyelash' is a concrete, everyday word with both practical and aesthetic resonance, appearing everywhere from beauty advertising to ophthalmology textbooks.
nounOne of the short, curved hairs growing on the edge of an eyelid; collectively, such hairs regarded as a feature of the eye.
- A single short hair growing on the edge of the eyelid.
- The collective mass of such hairs on a person's or animal's eyelids, especially considered as a cosmetic feature.
"She blinked away the dust that had settled on her eyelashes."
"A single eyelash fell onto her cheek as she rubbed her tired eyes."
"He thickened his eyelashes with mascara before stepping out for the evening."
The plural is the more common form in everyday speech, especially in cosmetic contexts ('false eyelashes').
"Her long eyelashes brushed against her glasses whenever she looked down."
Eyelashes are your eyes' first line of defence — they trigger a blink reflex in as little as 100 milliseconds when something approaches the eye.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of eyelash
The word 'eyelash' is a straightforward English compound formed from 'eye' (Old English ēage) and 'lash', meaning a stroke or whip, here applied to the fringe of hairs on the lid. It emerged in English around the late 16th or early 17th century, joining earlier compounds like 'eyebrow' and 'eyelid'. The formal anatomical synonym 'cilium' comes from Latin cilium, meaning 'upper eyelid', which also gives us 'ciliary' in modern scientific vocabulary.
How eyelash is actually used
Neutral in register and used in both everyday and medical contexts. In plural form it often carries a connotation of beauty or grooming, while the singular is common in clinical or descriptive writing.
Easily confused with eyelash
An eyelid is the fold of skin that covers the eye, whereas an eyelash is one of the hairs growing along its edge.