chinstrap

English

Bicycle helmet with yellow chinstrap.

Man with chinstrap beard.

Alternative forms

• chin-strap, chin strap

Etymology

From chin +‎ strap.

Noun

chinstrap (plural chinstraps)

1. A strip of leather or material used to fasten a hat or helmet under the chin.
   • 1777, John Richardson, A Dictionary, Persian, Arabic, and English, page 752:

     A bridle, the chin-strap or chain.

   • 1842, “Waifs of the Waters”, in The Sporting Review:

     Such a deficit was not likely long to escape notice: the regiment was halted in the midst of a manœuvre, and, in the pause that ensued, Nosey demanded, in a grunt of thunder, how, without a chinstrap, I could expect my cap to stick upon my head.

   • 2005, Joe Peacock, Mentally Incontinent:

     I immediately spat my mouthpiece out and unbuckled my chinstrap, yanking my helmet off of my head in a determined flash.

2. A form of beard that follows the jawline but does not cover the rest of the chin.

   Synonym: chin strip

3. A band of colour below a bird's mouth, resembling the chinstrap of a helmet.
   • 2003, Roger Tory Peterson, Peter Alden, Birds, page 10:

     A miniature look-alike of the Canada Goose, with a partial white necklace instead of a white chinstrap.

   • 2010, Phil McGowan, Steve Madge, Pheasants, Partridges & Grouse, page 313:

     The dark slate-grey plumage contrasting strongly with white 'chinstrap' is shared only by Blue Eared-pheasant, but their ranges do not overlap.

Derived terms

• chinstrapped
• chinstrap penguin

 

Translations

strip used to fasten a hat or helmet under the chin

• Catalan: barballera f, galtera f
• Dutch: kinband (nl) m, keelband m, stormband (nl) m
• Finnish: leukahihna, leukaremmi
• German: Kinnriemen m
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ὀχεύς m (okheús)

• Irish: smigiall f
• Italian: soggolo m, sottogola m
• Polish: pasek pod brodę m
• Spanish: barbiquejo m, barbijo (es) m (Latin America)
• Turkish: çene bağı