whisker

[hwis-ker, wis-]

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.

whisker

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• whiskery adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of whisker¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. by a whisker, by the narrowest margin.

   She won the race by a whisker.

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

Example Sentences

He tugged at the heavy whiskers that ran down both sides of his jaw.

Read more on Literature

Water dripped from the beast’s whiskered muzzle, and her yellow eyes were dim with fatigue.

Read more on Literature

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

Read more on BBC

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.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

All the men have been whiskered to resemble their historical models.

Read more on Los Angeles Times