By-a-whisker
whiskers, a beard.
Usually, whiskers. side whiskers.
a single hair of the beard.
Archaic. a mustache.
one of the long, stiff, bristly hairs growing about the mouth of certain animals, as the cat or rat; vibrissa.
Also called whisker boom, whisker pole. Nautical. any spar for extending the clew or clews of a sail so that it can catch more wind.
Radio, Electronics. cat whisker.
Crystallography. a thin filament of a crystal, usually several millimeters long and one to two microns in diameter, having unusually great strength.
by a whisker, by the narrowest margin:
She won the race by a whisker.
noun
any of the stiff sensory hairs growing on the face of a cat, rat, or other mammal Technical name vibrissa
any of the hairs growing on a person’s face, esp on the cheeks or chin
(pl) a beard or that part of it growing on the sides of the face
(pl) (informal) a moustache
Also called whisker boom, whisker pole. any light spar used for extending the clews of a sail, esp in light airs
(chem) 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
a person or thing that whisks
a narrow margin; a small distance: he escaped death by a whisker
n.
see:
by a hair (whisker)
win by a nose (whisker)
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