Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Beard \Beard\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Bearded}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Bearding}.]
   1. To take by the beard; to seize, pluck, or pull the beard
      of (a man), in anger or contempt.

   2. To oppose to the gills; to set at defiance.

            No admiral, bearded by three corrupt and dissolute
            minions of the palace, dared to do more than mutter
            something about a court martial.      --Macaulay.

   3. To deprive of the gills; -- used only of oysters and
      similar shellfish.