whisker

American  

[hwis-ker, wis-] / ˈʰwɪs kər, ˈwɪs- /

noun

1. whiskers, a beard.

2. Usually whiskers. side whiskers.

3. a single hair of the beard.

4. Archaic. a mustache.

5. one of the long, stiff, bristly hairs growing about the mouth of certain animals, as the cat or rat; vibrissa.

6. Also called whisker boom,.  Also called whisker pole.  Nautical. any spar for extending the clew or clews of a sail so that it can catch more wind.

7. Radio, Electronics. cat whisker.

8. Crystallography. a thin filament of a crystal, usually several millimeters long and one to two microns in diameter, having unusually great strength.

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idioms

1. by a whisker, by the narrowest margin.

   She won the race by a whisker.

whisker British  

/ ˈwɪskə /

noun

1. Technical name: vibrissa.  any of the stiff sensory hairs growing on the face of a cat, rat, or other mammal

2. any of the hairs growing on a person's face, esp on the cheeks or chin

3. (plural) a beard or that part of it growing on the sides of the face

4. informal (plural) a moustache

5. Also called: whisker boom.   whisker pole.  any light spar used for extending the clews of a sail, esp in light airs

6. chem a very fine filamentary crystal having greater strength than the bulk material since it is a single crystal. Such crystals often show unusual electrical properties

7. a person or thing that whisks

8. a narrow margin; a small distance

   he escaped death by a whisker

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whisker More Idioms  

1. see by a hair (whisker); win by a nose (whisker).

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• whiskery
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of whisker

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at whisk, -er ¹

Explanation

A whisker is a thick, bristly hair that grows on an animal's face. Your cat's long whiskers actually help her to navigate in the dark. You can also call a human's beard whiskers, but the word usually means the stiff hairs on the snout of an animal like a fox, a walrus, or a rat. In fact, most mammals have whiskers — and humans are the only primates who don't have them. This noun can also mean "a tiny amount," like when a disappointed voter says, "The other guy won by a whisker."

Example Sentences

If they want income, there’s a problem: Dividends on the S&P are only just over 1%—and only a whisker above their lowest ever, in 2000.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026

Reform won the first one in Runcorn and Helsby in Cheshire last May, beating Labour by a whisker.

From BBC • Feb. 26, 2026

On Monday gold was sitting around $4,500, having peaked a whisker shy of $4,550 on Friday, while silver slipped to $77.50 after touching a record $80.

From Barron's • Dec. 29, 2025

After two games in the Sheffield Shield, Agar came within a whisker of making his Australia bow on an awful tour of India.

From BBC • Nov. 18, 2025

Inch by careful inch, paw by whisker, slowly painstakingly trying to make his body as small as possible, he flattened himself against the wall to get by the huge spadelike head.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques