n.
The compulsion to tear or pluck out the hair on one's head and face and often to ingest it.
[TRICHO- + Greek tillein, to pluck hair + -MANIA.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
