whisker

B2 Topic:Animals

US /ˈwɪskər/ UK /ˈwɪskə/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
one of the long, stiff hairs growing near the mouth of some animals, such as cats or mice, used for sensing

The cat's whiskers twitched as it sensed movement in the room.
2

noun
a very small distance or amount

He won the race by a whisker.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · one of the long, stiff... vibrissa feelersensory hairbristle

2 noun · a very small distance or... hair fraction margin sliver touch

Simplified etymology

Whisker originally meant a bundle of twigs used for whisking. Around 1600 it was transferred to facial hair, especially a moustache, presumably because of a perceived resemblance; it was first used of animals at the end of the 17th century.

Etymology

Topics

Animals

External links

# whisker

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈwɪskər/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈwɪskə/

## Meanings
1. one of the long, stiff hairs growing near the mouth of some animals, such as cats or mice, used for sensing
2. a very small distance or amount

## Examples
- The cat's whiskers twitched as it sensed movement in the room.
- He won the race by a whisker.

## Synonyms
- vibrissa
- feeler
- sensory hair
- bristle
- hair
- fraction
- margin
- sliver
- touch

## Etymology
Related to Latin vibrissa (stiff facial hair) and to Middle English wisker (a bundle of twigs, a brush, something that whisks); modern English whisker denotes the stiff facial hairs of animals.

## AI Etymology
Whisker is traced through related to Latin vibrissa (stiff facial hair) and to Middle English wisker (a bundle of twigs, a brush, something that whisks); modern English whisker denotes the stiff facial hairs of animals. In current use it is a noun meaning "one of the long, stiff hairs growing near the mouth of some animals, such as cats or mice, used for sensing". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The history is mainly one of transmission into English, with the older form and sense carried through borrowing or adaptation. For dictionary purposes, the important point is the continuity between the older form, the route into English, and the present lexical sense.

## Topics
- Animals

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