whisker
noun
- Archaic a mustache
- the hair growing on a man's face; esp., the beard on the cheeks
- a hair of a man's beard
- any of the long, bristly hairs growing on each side of the upper lip of a cat, rat, etc.; vibrissa
- a very small, hairlike, single-crystal filament of high tensile strength, grown on certain metals, alloys, crystals, etc. and serving to reinforce the material
- a very small amount or margin: to lose an election by a whisker
- Naut. either of two spars extending laterally one on each side of the bowsprit, for spreading the jib and flying jib guys
See whisker in American Heritage Dictionary 4
(hwĭsˈkər, wĭsˈ-)
nouna. whiskers The hair on a man's cheeks and chin.
b. A single hair of a beard or mustache.
- One of the long stiff tactile bristles or hairs that grow near the mouth and elsewhere on the head of most mammals; a vibrissa.
- Informal A narrow margin; a hairsbreadth: The candidate lost the election by a whisker.
- Nautical One of two spars or booms projecting from the side of a bowsprit for spreading the jib or flying-jib guys.
- Chemistry An extremely fine filamentary crystal with extraordinary shear strength and unusual electrical or surface properties.
Related Forms:
- whiskˈered, whiskˈer·y adjective
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