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whisker Definition

whisker (hwiskər, wis-)

noun

    1. Archaic a mustache
    2. the hair growing on a man's face; esp., the beard on the cheeks
    1. a hair of a man's beard
    2. any of the long, bristly hairs growing on each side of the upper lip of a cat, rat, etc.; vibrissa
  1. a very small, hairlike, single-crystal filament of high tensile strength, grown on certain metals, alloys, crystals, etc. and serving to reinforce the material
  2. a very small amount or margin to lose an election by a whisker
  3. Naut. either of two spars extending laterally one on each side of the bowsprit, for spreading the jib and flying jib guys

Etymology: ME wisker, something used for whisking: see whisk & -er

whisker Related Forms
whisk·ered adjective whisk·ery adjective
whisker Synonyms

whisker

n.

facial hair, filament, bristle, cilium; see hair 2.

whisker Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • have: Otters also have whiskers to help detect fish in muddy waters.
  • wear: He is tall and slender, has dark brown hair, and wears side whiskers and mustache similar to the Emperor William.
  • use: On the trout lake Mark Johnson landed fifteen fish the best a rainbow a very respectable 10lb 8oz using cats whisker.

Adjective modifier

  • missing: Pale eye circles, broken or missing whiskers, broken or kinked tail.
  • sensitive: They also have extremely sensitive, bristly whiskers for sensing the movements of their prey underwater.
  • white: Long white whiskers shot out of the sides of their faces, swaying in the breezes caused by the opening of the main door.
  • green: I shall disguise myself by cutting off my lovely green whiskers.
  • black: For he wore a pair of long, luxuriant black whiskers such as haven't been seen since Victorian times.
  • long: Long white whiskers shot out of the sides of their faces, swaying in the breezes caused by the opening of the main door.

Preposition: on

  • kitten: It's the new raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.

Modifies a noun

  • diagram: Suppose we have data from three groups, A, B and C for which we want to plot a box and whisker diagram.
  • plot: By: Developing an ability to construct and interpret dot plots, stem & leaf, and box & whisker plots.
  • growth: Whisker growth can be reduced by adding lead ( not very helpful!
  • bed: Front feet meduim lenghth head - cheeks well rounded must not ouch whisker bed or corners of mouth or over past the cheekbone.

Possessives

  • gnat: The trouble is that he hasn't got a clue, not a gnat's whisker of know-how about building.
  • cat: They think their take on squashed together living in what is now technically a desert, is the cats ' whiskers.

Noun used with modifier

  • zinc: ERA can help by Determining whether or not zinc whiskers are present in dust samples taken from regions within an installation.
  • tin: These crystals have a long aspect ratio, and hence are known as tin whiskers.
  • cat: The top view of a Radio Electric Company's crystal set with the cats whisker in the center.
  • side: He was authentic in every detail, right down to long side whiskers.

Browse dictionary entries near whisker

  1. whisk broom
  2. whisk
  3. whisht
  4. whish
  5. whirry
  6. whirring
  7. whirlybird
  8. whirlwind
  9. whirlpool
  10. whirling
  1. whiskers
  2. whiskey
  3. whiskey jack
  4. whiskey sour
  5. whisper
  6. whisper number
  7. whispered
  8. whispering
  9. whispering campaign
  10. whist