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WHISKER
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A long stiff hair growing from the snout or brow of most mammals as e.g. a cat
Synonyms:
sensory hair; vibrissa; whisker
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("whisker" is a kind of...):
hair (a filamentous projection or process on an organism)
Derivation:
whisker (furnish with whiskers)
whiskery (having hair on the cheeks and chin)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A very small distance or space
Example:
they lost the election by a whisker
Synonyms:
hair; hair's-breadth; hairsbreadth; whisker
Classified under:
Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure
Hypernyms ("whisker" is a kind of...):
small indefinite amount; small indefinite quantity (an indefinite quantity that is below average size or magnitude)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Furnish with whiskers
Example:
a whiskered jersey
Synonyms:
bewhisker; whisker
Classified under:
Verbs of buying, selling, owning
Hypernyms (to "whisker" is one way to...):
furnish; provide; render; supply (give something useful or necessary to)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
whisker (a long stiff hair growing from the snout or brow of most mammals as e.g. a cat)
Context examples:
A pale, taper-faced man with sandy whiskers rose up from a chair by the fire as we entered.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the ‘Pink ’un’ protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet,” said he.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Under the whiskers, and all unseen, I knew that the skin was taking on a purplish hue.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
The Irish Terrier is a medium-sized, well-proportioned terrier with long whiskers, a bearded muzzle with powerful jaws, and bushy eyebrows.
(Irish Terrier, NCI Thesaurus)
It was long, whitish, and blotched with pimples, the nose flattened, and the lower jaw projecting, with a bristle of coarse whiskers round the chin.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A medium-sized macaque that tends to be an opportunistic omnivore, the Macaca fascicularis has grey-brown or reddish-brown fur that lightens ventrally, and cheek whiskers.
(Cynomolgus Maritius Monkey, NCI Thesaurus)
Still talking, Mr. Ford led him into the general office, where he introduced him to the associate editor, Mr. White, a slender, frail little man whose hand seemed strangely cold, as if he were suffering from a chill, and whose whiskers were sparse and silky.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
At every jump too, Hands appeared still more to sink into himself and settle down upon the deck, his feet sliding ever the farther out, and the whole body canting towards the stern, so that his face became, little by little, hid from me; and at last I could see nothing beyond his ear and the frayed ringlet of one whisker.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
The next morning the soldier with the green whiskers led the Lion to the great Throne Room and bade him enter the presence of Oz.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
“No? Let's get the scaffolding up, then, for a pair of whiskers. Come!”
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
