bald / bôld/ • adj. 1. having a scalp wholly or partly lacking hair: he had a shiny bald head he was starting to go bald. ∎  (of an animal) not covered by the usual fur, hair, or feathers: hedgehogs are born bald. ∎  (of a tire) having the tread worn away: my car had two bald tires.2. without any extra detail or explanation; plain or blunt: the bald statement in the preceding paragraph requires amplification.DERIVATIVES: bald·ish adj.bald·ly adv. (in sense 2) “I want to leave,” Stephen said baldly.bald·ness n.

bald XIV. ME. balled(e), MSc. bellit hairless, having a white blaze, prob. an OE. formation (*bællede, *beallede) with suffix -ede on a base *ball- meaning orig. ‘white patch’. Cf. PIEBALD, SKEWBALD, and Ballard (XIV) bald-headed person, which survives as a surname.