Shaving

Shaving is the removal of hair, by using a razor or any other kind of bladed implement, to slice it down—to the level of the skin or otherwise. Shaving is most commonly practiced by men to remove their facial hair and by women to remove their leg and underarm hair. A man is called clean-shaven if he has had his beard entirely removed.

Both men and women sometimes shave their chest hair, abdominal hair, leg hair, underarm hair, pubic hair or any other bodily hair.Head shaving is much more common among men. It is often associated with religious practice, the armed forces and some competitive sports such as swimming, running and extreme sports. Historically, head shaving has also been used to humiliate, punish and show submission to an authority, and also as part of fund-raising efforts, particularly for cancer research organizations and charitable organizations which serve cancer patients. The shaving of head hair is also sometimes done by cancer patients when their treatment may result in partial hair loss.

Glabrousness

Glabrousness (from the Latin glaber meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for an anatomically atypical lack of hair, down or other such covering. This may be natural or due to loss because of a physical condition, such as alopecia universalis, which causes hair to fall out or prevents its growth.

In botany

In botany and mycology, a glabrous morphological feature is smooth, glossy, having no trichomes (bristles or hair-like structures), or glaucousness (see also indumentum). No plants have hair, although some structures may resemble it. Glabrous features may be an important means of identifying flora species. Glabrous characteristics of leaves, stems, and fruit are commonly used in plant keys.

The term is only used for features that lack trichomes at all times. When an organ has trichomes that are lost with age, the term used is glabrescent.

Glabrous skin

In varying degrees most mammals have some skin areas without natural hair. On the human body, glabrous skin is external skin that is naturally hairless. It is found on the ventral portion of the fingers, palms, soles of feet, lips, labia minora, and glans penis. Glabrousness is one trait that is associated with neoteny.