bald as a coot/billiard ball
bald as a coot/billiard ball
Very bald indeed. The coot is a black waterbird whose white bill extends up to the forehead, making it appear to be bald. Indeed, this bird was already being called a balled cote in the thirteenth century. The later simile, to a billiard ball, has been less recorded, but since billiards was already popular in Shakespeare’s day it cannot be of very recent origin.
See also: bald, ball, coot
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- as bald as a coot
- bald as a coot
- be as bald as a coot
- coot
- backside
- (as) bald as a baby's backside
- bald
- the eagle flies
- when the eagle flies
- a rare bird