maidenhair

noun

1. (poetic, uncountable)A woman's pubic hair.

   “He fingered shreds of hair, her maidenhair, her mermaid's, into the bowl”

   “His fingers tore at her maidenhair. Gasping, she recoiled for long enough to allow him entry.”

   “Some said they'd seen her over by Death's-Door, with bloodstains on her dress, which was so white and transparent they were seized with shame and fear at the faint beauty of her breasts and the eternal modesty of her maidenhair.”

   “She grabbed at her maidenhair as the garment eluded her frantic grasp and formed a puddle of cloth at her feet.”

   “She turns and her small breasts are firm in the fading light, the flower of her navel, the darkening delta of her maidenhair and her thighs rising out of the water, the water tiny golden gifts against her skin;”

2. (countable, uncountable)Either of two species of genus Adiantum of fern with delicate, hair-like stalks, especially Adiantum capillus-veneris.

   “Our common Maidenhair does from a number of hard black fibres, send forth a great many blacking shining brittle stalks, hardly a span long [...].”

   “Among herbs that have traditionally been considered to possess aphrodisiac virtue are, maidenhair, navelwort, anemone, wild poppy, valerian, cyclamen, male fern, pansy, periwinkle.”

3. (Canada, US, countable, regional, uncountable)Either of two ericaceous plants, the creeping snowberry or the checkerberry.