whisker

American  

[hwis-ker, wis-] / ˈʰwɪs kər, ˈwɪs- /

noun

whiskers plural

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• whiskers
  plural

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

See Examples For:

whisker whiskers

The dollar was recently at 161.82 yen on Thursday, a mere whisker from its high of ¥161.92 on June 22.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

That has pushed the dollar sharply up against its peers and is within a whisker of a four-decade peak against the yen.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

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

From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2026

Fourth-quarter earnings rose 78% from the prior year, while adjusted operating income came within a whisker of $800 million.

From Barron's ● Feb. 3, 2026

Some of the mice pulled away from Despereaux in disgust, and others, thrill seekers, reached out to touch him with a whisker or a paw “The princess put a finger on him. ”

From "The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread" by Kate DiCamillo

They have stiff white whiskers and a prehensile tail that’s as long as their body.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026

The study was only carried out on mice, mostly via cells taken from their whiskers.

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026

Elephants are also well-documented using their trunks for social touch -- "they're using the outside of their trunk," Schulz said, "so they're using those portions that are covered in the whiskers."

From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026

I refuse to bury the Chiefs, because they have torched me so many times—presuming their inevitable demise, only to see clever coach Andy Reid pull off another victory by the walrus whiskers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025

He didn’t have much hair either, just a little around the edges; and it was as grey and stiff as a wild hog’s whiskers.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls