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
See also:
  • 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