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

• whiskery adjective

Etymology

Origin of whisker

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

Example Sentences

Stocks came within a whisker of a new bear market, Treasury yields spiked and the VIX “fear gauge” reached a level not seen since the Covid-19 panic.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

With gas prices averaging a whisker below $4 a gallon nationwide on Tuesday, drivers are wondering how high prices can go.

From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026

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

Indeed finished a whisker ahead with a 4.7 percent response rate.

From Slate • Oct. 6, 2025

Then she looked down at her lap, at the way that the rich sunlight brushed every hair on the cat’s head, turning each white whisker to gold.

From "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman