lock of hair vs strand of hair (2025)

I think you are trying to say two different things. And I'm not sure which you really want.

If you mean that he caressed (touched some bunched hairs) from her forehead in order to make her brow visible then, I think you could use either. That said, 'lock' seems to me to be more relevant to a piece which has already been removed by cutting it with a pair of scissors. (Or you could have a single lock on an otherwise bald head - usually of men. This doesn't look particularly romantic in a girl, I must say!) In that case, 'strand' may be a better option.

However, without physically removing the lock/strand (by hand or with the scissors) you can't talk about this 'removal' as being synonymous with 'smoothing' it. Either you gently touch the hair and move it to one side on the brow or you cut it/remove it completely from the face.

Welsh_Sion said:

I think you are trying to say two different things. And I'm not sure which you really want.

If you mean that he caressed (touched some bunched hairs) from her forehead in order to make her brow visible then, I think you could use either. That said, 'lock' seems to me to be more relevant to a piece which has already been removed by cutting it with a pair of scissors. In that case, 'strand' may be a better option.

However, without physically removing the lock/strand (by hand or with the scissors) you can't talk about this 'removal' as being synonymous with 'smoothing' it. Either you gently touch the hair and move it to one side on the brow or you cut it/remove it completely from the face.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. I mean "caress" not "remove". My question is that if "strand“ means only one single hair or a few pieces of hair.

A strand of hair is a single thin piece of hair especially when twisted together with others or perhaps a thin lock of hair. It can be used similarly for things like thread, fibre, wool or wire.

I'd go with 'strand' here - and 'lock' for when it has been cut off.

Although "locks" of hair are often cut off, I don't think that's a necessary definition. A lock of hair is simply thicker than strands, which refers to individual hairs. Here are a lock and some strands:

Lock

Strands

The hair on the front of this horse's head is called a forelock.

It's definitely not individual strands. A lock to me is like this and that shown above. It's a grouping of hair strands.

I don't think two or three hairs make a lock.