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 whisker boom,. 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. any of the stiff sensory hairs growing on the face of a cat, rat, or other mammal Technical namevibrissa
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 calledwhisker boomwhisker 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

• whisker·y 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.

More idioms and phrases containing whisker

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

Example Sentences

“That’s how they greet,” Ebsen told me a few weeks before, “their whiskers send signals straight up to their brain which tells them all about your smell, your hormones, everything.”

From Los Angeles Times

In the 16th century, California came within a Tudor whisker of being a queen’s land: Elizabeth I.

From Los Angeles Times

Celtic won, by a whisker or by a mile, it doesn't really matter.

From BBC

By distinguishing between each creature’s whisker tips, as well as their base and length, she hopes AI will enable wildlife experts to track and monitor individual members of the population.

From BBC

A lifelong personal zeal for Scottish independence energised his mission to shift his cause from a sidebar to the mainstream, and to within a whisker of it actually happening.

From BBC