Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun chiefly UK A small electrical appliance for drying hair, by generating a stream of hot air.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

hair +‎ dryer

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Examples

  • The problem for Sir Alex is that he needs Berbatov against Bayern Munich this week so giving him a blast of the 'hairdryer' would be counter-productive.

    Football.co.uk news feed 2010

  • The problem for Sir Alex is that he needs Berbatov against Bayern Munich this week so giving him a blast of the 'hairdryer' would be counter-productive.

    Football.co.uk news feed 2010

  • The problem for Sir Alex is that he needs Berbatov against Bayern Munich this week so giving him a blast of the 'hairdryer' would be counter-productive.

    Football.co.uk news feed 2010

  • The problem for Sir Alex is that he needs Berbatov against Bayern Munich this week so giving him a blast of the 'hairdryer' would be counter-productive.

    Football.co.uk news feed 2010

  • The problem for Sir Alex is that he needs Berbatov against Bayern Munich this week so giving him a blast of the 'hairdryer' would be counter-productive.

    Football.co.uk news feed 2010

  • The problem for Sir Alex is that he needs Berbatov against Bayern Munich this week so giving him a blast of the 'hairdryer' would be counter-productive.

    Football.co.uk news feed 2010

  • Roberto Mancini's flowing, beautifully styled locks means the word "hairdryer" has a very different connotation at

    Football news, match reports and fixtures | guardian.co.uk Tim Rich 2010

  • Roberto Mancini's flowing, beautifully styled locks means the word "hairdryer" has a very different connotation at

    Sport news, comment and results | guardian.co.uk Tim Rich 2010

  • Mark and Steve Waugh - nobody was angry until Sir Alex Ferguson brought in the 'hairdryer', which definitely isn't another word for shouting at players which every other manager definitely hadn't been doing anyway since

    Sport news, comment and results | guardian.co.uk Tom Lutz 2010

  • The problem for Sir Alex is that he needs Berbatov against Bayern Munich this week so giving him a blast of the 'hairdryer' would be counter-productive.

    Football.co.uk news feed 2010

Comments

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  • After watching such a lacklustre effort from his players, Ferguson must have been tempted to give them the full 'hairdryer' treatment at half-time. —IOL: News

    What is the "hairdryer treatment", and how different is it from the "wordie treatment"?

    April 14, 2010

  • The "hairdryer treatment" is the term coined by Alex Ferguson's players (I'm not sure who first used it but it's been around for quite a while) to describe his half-time motivational harangues, so-called because of the proximity of Ferguson's rant-hole to the recipient's face. Now a part of the English football lexicon and starting to be used of managers other than Ferguson, I bet it's not long before this one jumps out of football altogether.

    April 14, 2010

  • In which case it's nothing like the wordie treatment.

    April 16, 2010

  • ... I like rant-hole. That does describe it aptly.

    April 17, 2010