مِشْفَرٌ

The lip of a camel; (S, Mgh, Msb, K;) as also ↓ مَشْفَرٌ: (K:) and (tropical:) of a horse: (S, TA:) and (tropical:) of a human being: (K, TA:) or (tropical:) of an Abyssinian, as being likened to that of a camel: (A'Obeyd, TA:) plural مَشَافِرُ. (S, K.) It is said in a prov., أَرَاكَ بَشَرٌ مَا أَحَارَ مِشْفَرٌ [lit. External skin hath shown thee what a lip hath transmitted to the stomach;] meaning, the external appearance hath rendered thee in no need of inquiring respecting the internal state: (S, K:) originally said of a camel; (TA;) for when you see his external skin, whether he be fat or lean, you take it as an indication of the quality of his food. (K, TA.)

Also The vulva, or external portion of the organs of generation, of a woman: (R, MF:) but this is strange. (TA.)

And (tropical:) A piece of land: and of sand: (K, TA:) each by way of comparison [to the lip of a camel]. (TA.)

-A2- Also A state of resistance; inaccessibleness, or unapproachableness: (K:) strength, or power; (K, * TA;) vehemence, or hardness, or firmness. (K, TA.)

And A state of perdition or destruction: and thus it is explained as used in the saying mentioned by Meyd [in his Proverbs, perhaps the origin of this explanation], تَرَكْتُهُ عَلَى مِثْلِ مِشْفَرِ الأَسَدِ [which may be rendered I left him at the like of the lip of the lion]; (TA;) applied to him who is exposed to destruction. (Meyd, TA. *)