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 Words From

• 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

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

They would close their eyes and move their ears and whiskers forward when feeling friendly, or constrict their pupils while flattening their ears and flicking their tongues when feeling aggressive.

From Salon

“The streak of record-breaking months has come to an end, but only by a whisker,” Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said in a statement.

From Los Angeles Times

The athlete opts to compete in qualifying rounds with a full set of whiskers before shaving them into a half-beard for the finals.

From Salon

Stories spread through the city of a bearded man - nicknamed “whiskers” in the Xhosa language - who made people disappear at night.

From BBC