pelo
hair
Reviewed by: David WestfallCofounder
Hair on people and animals, whether a whole head of it or a single strand
Encoding Strategies:
mnemonic
visual
pelt
animal hide
+
-o
noun suffix
Pelo means hair and sounds like the English word pelt0, an animal hide still covered in hair.
pelo
hair
The hair on a person's head or body.
Me corté el pelo ayerI cut my hair yesterday
Encontré un pelo en mi platoI found a hair on my plate
fur, coat (on an animal)
The hair that covers an animal, which is exactly what you are looking at on a pelt.
El pelo del gato es muy suaveThe cat's fur is very soft
Hay que cepillarle el pelo al perro cada semanaYou have to brush the dog's coat every week
bit, touch (tiny amount)
The smallest imaginable amount of something. A single hair is about as little as you can measure.
No se movió ni un pelo cuando lo llaméHe didn't move a bit when I called him
A la sopa le falta un pelo de salThe soup needs a touch more salt
tomar el pelo
to tease, to pull someone's leg
When someone is joking at your expense instead of being serious with you. Literally you take their hair, like giving it a playful tug.
No te enojes, solo te estoy tomando el peloDon't get mad, I'm just teasing you
Mis hermanos me tomaron el pelo toda la tardeMy brothers pulled my leg all afternoon
por los pelos
barely, by a hair
When something works out at the very last moment with nothing to spare. You got there by a hair and no more.
Aprobé el examen por los pelosI barely passed the exam
Alcanzamos el tren por los pelosWe caught the train by a hair
no tener pelos en la lengua
to not mince words, to be blunt
When someone says exactly what they think. There are no hairs on their tongue to catch the words on the way out.
Mi abuela no tiene pelos en la lengua y nos dijo lo que pensabaMy grandmother doesn't mince words and told us what she thought
El jefe no tiene pelos en la lengua cuando algo le molestaThe boss is blunt when something bothers him
ponérsele los pelos de punta
to make one's hair stand on end, to give someone goosebumps
When something frightens or thrills you so much that your hairs go up on end, point first.
Se me pusieron los pelos de punta con ese gritoThat scream made my hair stand on end
Se le pusieron los pelos de punta al escuchar la canciónThe song gave her goosebumps