whisker

UK: /ˈ^hwɪskə^r/ US: /ˈhwɪskɚ, ˈwɪs-/ ,(hwis′kər, wis′-)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

whisk•er /ˈhwɪskɚ, ˈwɪs-/   n. [countable]

1. Usually, -kers. [plural] the hair growing on a man's cheeks and chin.
2. a single hair of the beard.
3. Mammals one of the long bristlelike hairs growing near the mouth of an animal, as a cat.

Idioms

4. Idioms by a whisker, by the closest, smallest, or narrowest amount or margin:
   lost the tournament by a whisker.

whisk•ered, adj. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

whisk•er  (hwis′kər, wis′-), n. 

1. whiskers, a beard.
2. Usually, whiskers. See 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. Nautical, Naval Terms Also called whisk′er boom′, whisk′er pole′. any spar for extending the clew or clews of a sail so that it can catch more wind.
7. Electronics, Radio and Television [Radio, Electronics.] See 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.
9. by a whisker, by the narrowest margin:
   She won the race by a whisker.

• 1375–1425; late Middle English; see whisk, -er¹

whisk′er•y, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

whisker / ˈwɪskə/ noun

1. any of the stiff sensory hairs growing on the face of a cat, rat, or other mammal
   Technical name: vibrissa
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. (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. 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