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Eyebrow

Eyebrows, as marked by the red line
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Eyebrows, as marked by the red line

The eyebrow is a bony ridge above the eye, found in humans and other primates. In humans, it bears a tuft of facial hair. The function of the eyebrows is to prevent debris such as dandruff and other small objects from falling into the eyes, as well as providing sense of something near the eye, such as an insect and prevent water or sweat from dripping into the eye.

Some people, especially women in some cultures, go through the time consuming process of plucking their eyebrows with tweezers to shape them; others remove excess eyebrow hair through hot wax or other techniques such as eyebrow threading, some simply rip the hair out with their fingers. One form of body piercing that is relatively rare pierces the eyebrow; this can create the risk of an infection.

Genetically speaking, a bushy eyebrow is dominant and a thin eyebrow is recessive.

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Last updated: 10-29-2005 02:13:46