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; 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

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

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

Before that, he was third in the Kentucky Derby by a whisker while being on the receiving end of some bumping down the stretch by Sierra Leone.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 1, 2025

However, she accumulated speed on the downhill, and Clare could do nothing but shriek when she nearly bowled over the crying kits, overcorrected, then stopped a whisker away from colliding with the south fence.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman