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trichotillomania

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The compulsion to tear or pluck out the hair on one's head and face and often to ingest it.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The habit of continually pulling out hairs from the beard, at the nasal orifices, etc.

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

  • noun a medical disorder in which the patient compulsively pulls his/her own hair out.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an irresistible urge to pull out your own hair

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[tricho– + Greek tillein, to pluck hair + –mania.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek θρίξ (thriks, "hair") (genitive: τριχός (trikhos)) + τίλλω (tillō, "I pull out, pluck") + μανία (mania, "madness").

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Examples

  • But rather than indulge in trichotillomania, do something about it.

    notes from the peanut gallery Dean Francis Alfar 2003

  • But rather than indulge in trichotillomania, do something about it.

    Archive 2003-11-01 Dean Francis Alfar 2003

  • Often a harmless habit, in its most extreme form, the urge to constantly twirl or pull at hair is called trichotillomania, and it can lead to bald spots or thinning hair.

    Thestar.com - Home Page Adrienne Brown 2011

  • The BBC has a news story on the genetics of a disorder called trichotillomania compulsive hair-pulling that typifies the way genetics discoveries are reported in the media.

    Mind Hacks: October 2006 Archives 2006

  • Chloe was diagnosed with a condition called trichotillomania around the time she started sixth grade at Roosevelt Middle School in 2010.

    StarTribune.com rss feed 2011

  • Parrots compulsively pluck their own feathers; dogs repetitively lick a paw or other fixed spot; humans develop a condition known as trichotillomania, in which they pull out strands of their hair.

    TIME.com: Top Stories 2010

  • "The story starts with a mouse mutant that has a very unusual behavior, which is very similar to the obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder in humans called trichotillomania, when patients compulsively remove all their body hair," explained Capecchi, who is a distinguished professor of human genetics and biology at the University of Utah School of Medicine and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

    BusinessWeek.com -- 2010

  • "The story starts with a mouse mutant that has a very unusual behavior, which is very similar to the obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder in humans called trichotillomania, when patients compulsively remove all their body hair," explained Capecchi, who is a distinguished professor of human genetics and biology at the University of Utah School of Medicine and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

    Medlogs - Recent stories 2010

  • TUESDAY, July 7 (HealthDay News) -- A common health-food supplement might help ease the urges of people with a compulsive hair-pulling disorder called trichotillomania, U.S. researchers report.

    Medlogs - Recent stories 2009

  • The 190-page book is a testimony of her life and her hair-pulling habit, called trichotillomania, or "trich."

    MailTribune.com Latest Headlines 2009

Comments

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  • one of the scariest compulsions, with its nightmarish image of swollen, be-plucked eyelids

    October 30, 2009