Meanings
whisker1
nounwhisker (plural whiskers)
plural whiskers
- A hair of the beard.
- One of the long, projecting hairs growing at the sides of the mouth of a cat, or other animal.
- colloquialThe (very small) distance between two things.
It missed falling on your foot by a whisker.
1 more example
Boosted by their reward, Wolves continued to push forward and Jamie O'Hara came within a whisker of doubling the lead, smashing a 25-yard effort on to the bar.
2011 May 14, Peter Scrivener, “Sunderland 1 - 3 Wolverhampton”, in BBC Sport - One who, or that which, whisks, or moves with a quick, sweeping motion.
- engineeringA small tendril that forms on metal.
Whisker2
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna very small distance or space
Broader
small indefinite quantitysmall indefinite amount
nouna long stiff hair growing from the snout or brow of most mammals as e.g. a cat
Similar
vibrissasensory hair
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
whisker · noun
- Middle Englishwisker
- Englishwhisker
Inherited from Middle English wisker, whisk (verb) + -er.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans snor
- snorlong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Arabic شَارِب, كُلْبَة
- شَارِب (šārib)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- كُلْبَة (kulba)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Bulgarian бакенба́рд, муста́к
- бакенба́рд (bakenbárd)part of the beard
- муста́к (musták)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- ко́съм (kósăm)(colloquial) very small distance between two things
- муста́че (mustáče)a small tendril
Catalan vibrissa, bigoti
- vibrissalong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- bigotilong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Chinese Mandarin 感覺毛 /感觉毛, 鬍鬚 /胡须
- 感覺毛 /感觉毛 (gǎnjuémáo)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- 鬍鬚 /胡须 (húxū)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Czech vous, vous
- voushair of the beard
- vouslong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- vousylong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- fous(colloquial) very small distance between two things
Danish knurhår, hårsbredde
- knurhårlong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- hårsbredde(colloquial) very small distance between two things
Dutch bakkebaarden, baardhaar
- bakkebaardenpart of the beard
- baardhaarhair of the beard
- snorlong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- op een haar na(colloquial) very small distance between two things
- ei zo na(colloquial) very small distance between two things
Esperanto lipharoj, vibriso
- lipharojpart of the beard
- vibrisolong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Estonian vurr, vurrud
- vurrlong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- vurrudlong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Finnish parta, leukaparta
- partapart of the beard
- leukapartapart of the beard
- partakarvahair of the beard
- viiksikarvalong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- hiuskarva(colloquial) very small distance between two things
French favoris, poil de barbe
- favorispart of the beard
- poil de barbehair of the beard
- moustachelong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- vibrisselong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- d’un poil(colloquial) very small distance between two things
- de justesse(colloquial) very small distance between two things
- un cheveu(colloquial) very small distance between two things
- barbea small tendril
German Barthaar, Barthaare
- Barthaarhair of the beard
- Barthaarehair of the beard
- Schnurrhaarlong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- Vibrisselong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- Haaresbreite(colloquial) very small distance between two things
- Whiskera graphic element that shows the maxima and minima in a box plot
Greek μουστάκι
- μουστάκι (moustáki)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Hindi गलमुच्छा, मूंछ
- गलमुच्छा (galmucchā)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- मूंछ (mūñch)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Hungarian pajesz, barkó
- pajeszpart of the beard
- barkópart of the beard
- bajuszlong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Icelandic veiðihár
- veiðihárlong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Italian basetta, basettoni
- basettapart of the beard
- basettonipart of the beard
- favoritipart of the beard
- fedinepart of the beard
- pelohair of the beard
- vibrissalong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- baffolong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- pelo(colloquial) very small distance between two things
Japanese 洞毛, ひげ
- 洞毛 (dōmō)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- ひげ (hige)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Korean 수염, 동모
- 수염 (suyeom)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- 동모 (dongmo)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Latin saeta, vibrissa
- saetalong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- vibrissalong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Latvian ūsas
- ūsaslong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Lithuanian ūsai
- ūsailong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Māori kumikumi
- kumikumipart of the beard
Norwegian Bokmål værhår
- værhårlong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Polish bokobrody, wibrys
- bokobrodypart of the beard
- wibryslong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- wibrysylong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Portuguese costeleta, suíça
- costeletapart of the beard
- suíçapart of the beard
- pelohair of the beard
- fiohair of the beard
- bigodelong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- fio(colloquial) very small distance between two things
Romanian fir, mustață
- firhair of the beard
- mustațălong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- vibrisălong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Russian бакенба́рды, во́лос
- бакенба́рды (bakenbárdy)part of the beard
- во́лос (vólos)hair of the beard
- во́лосы (vólosy)hair of the beard
- вибри́сса (vibríssa)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- усы́ (usý)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- у́сик (úsik)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- руко́й пода́ть (rukój podátʹ)(colloquial) very small distance between two things
- в двух шага́х (v dvux šagáx)(colloquial) very small distance between two things
Slovak bokombrady, fúz
- bokombradypart of the beard
- fúzhair of the beard
- fúzlong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- fúzylong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- chlp(colloquial) very small distance between two things
- o chlp(colloquial) very small distance between two things
Spanish vibrisa, bigote
- vibrisalong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- bigotelong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Swedish morrhår, hårsmån
- morrhårlong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- hårsmån(colloquial) very small distance between two things
Thai หนวด
- หนวด (nùuat)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Turkish bıyık, milim
- bıyıklong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- milim(colloquial) very small distance between two things
- santim(colloquial) very small distance between two things
Ukrainian бакенба́рди, ву́сик
- бакенба́рди (bakenbárdy)part of the beard
- ву́сик (vúsyk)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- вібри́са (vibrýsa)long projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Vietnamese lông xúc giác, râu
- lông xúc giáclong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- râulong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- rialong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Welsh wisgeren, wisgers
- wisgerenlong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
- wisgerslong projecting hair at the sides of the mouth of a cat
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
whisker. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whisker
MLA
“whisker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whisker. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “whisker,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whisker.
Source: whisker on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.