scalp
/skælp/noun, verb
scalp is spelled S-C-A-L-P: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, scalp means “The top of the head; the skull” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of scalp is scalps.
How many letters and syllables are in scalp?
| Letters | 5: S-C-A-L-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,368th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is scalp?
Scalp appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce scalp?
- /skælp/
Scalp has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-scalp.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with scalp?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as scalp.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: clasp.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of scalp
- scalps plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- scalping participle, present
- scalped participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does scalp mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The top of the head; the skull.
- 2
The part of the head where the hair grows from, or used to grow from.
- 3
A part of the skin of the head, with the hair attached, formerly cut or torn off from an enemy by warriors in some cultures as a token of victory.
Some tribes used to collect scalps to prove how many of the enemy they had killed in battle.
- 4
The skin of the head of a stag, to which the horns are attached.
- 5
A victory, especially at the expense of someone else.
- 6
ScotlandA bed or stratum of shellfish.
- 7
The top; the summit.
verb
- 1
To remove the scalp (part of the head from where the hair grows), by brutal act or accident.
- 2
CanadaUSslangTo resell, especially tickets, usually for an inflated price, often illegally.
Tickets were being scalped for $300.
- 3
To bet on opposing competitors so as to make a profit from the bookmaker.
- 4
On an open outcry exchange trading floor, to buy and sell rapidly for one's own account, aiming to buy from a seller and a little later sell to a buyer, making a small profit from the difference (roughly the amount of the bid/offer spread, or less).
- 5
To screen or sieve ore before further processing.
scalped ore
- 6
To remove the skin of.
- 7
To remove the grass from.
- 8
To destroy the political influence of.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Scalp in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Oberkopf , Kopfhaut , Skalp |
| Spanish | mollera , cuero cabelludo, pericráneo , descabellar |
| French | cuir chevelu , scalper |
| Portuguese | couro cabeludo , escalpo , escalpelar, escalpar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does scalp come from?
From Middle English scalp, skalp, scalpe (“crown of the head; skull”). Originally a northern word, and therefore probably from a North Germanic source, although the sense-development is unclear; compare Sylt North Frisian Skolp (“dandruff”), Old Norse skálpr (“sheath”), Old Swedish skalp, Dutch schelp (“shell”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).