DCHP-1 Online
guard hair † 
the coarse, glossy hair protecting the soft under-hair on a fur-bearing animal.
See also: king hair
- 1703 (1964) [. . . a beaver has two lays of hair; one is long and of a shining black color, with a grain as big as that of a Man's Hair; the other is fine and smooth and in Winter fifteen lines long. In a word, the last is the finest Down in the world.]
- 1930 [Caption] Muskrat fur with the long (guard) hairs plucked.
- 1956 It took the wool from three [mountain] goats to make one blanket and, after it had been pulled from the hide, the coarse guard hairs had to be pulled out leaving the finer and softer wool.
- 1962 (1964) The fur of the beaver, like that of other animals, may be divided into two parts: the guard hair, up to two inches in length, and the underhair or fur, at most an inch.
- 1703 (1964) [. . . a beaver has two lays of hair; one is long and of a shining black color, with a grain as big as that of a Man's Hair; the other is fine and smooth and in Winter fifteen lines long. In a word, the last is the finest Down in the world.]