whiskern.1
/ˈwɪskə/, U.S. /ˈ(h)wɪskər/ 1. Something that whisks or is used for whisking: applied to various objects, as a fan; a rod or switch; a bunch of feathers used as a brush (cf. whisk n.1 4); etc. Obsolete or dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > air > fresh air > [noun] > supplying fresh air or ventilation > fan
werela1390
whiskerc1425
flabel1552
ventile1555
waffer1592
ventoy1602
ventilow1653
fan1835
thermantidote1840
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > [noun] > brush or broom
besomc1000
bast broom1357
brush1377
broom14..
sweepc1475
duster1575
bristle brush1601
broom-besom1693
flag-broom1697
stock-brush1700
whisk1745
birch-broom1747
hair-broom1753
spry1796
corn-broomc1810
pope's head1824
whisker1825
sweeping-brusha1828
swish1844
spoke-brush1851
whisk broom1857
Turk's head1859
wisp1875
tube-brush1877
bass-broom?1881
crumb-brush1884
dusting-brush1907
palmetto brush1913
suede brush1915
swale1949
c1425 St. Mary of Oignies ii. iii, in Anglia VIII. 155 She sawe oure lady..as wiþ a wisker waftynge wynde vpon hir.
1567 T. Harman Caueat for Commen Cursetors (new ed.) sig. Hiv A whyp is a whyskar, that wyll wrast out blood.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Houssine, a Switch, or Whisker.
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Whisker, whiscar, a bunch of feathers for sweeping any thing.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > specific classes of common people > fashionable society > [noun] > member of > male
gallant1388
wamfler15..
rutter1506
younkera1522
fine gentleman1575
cavalier1589
whisker1595
jinglespur1604
bravery1616
brisk1621
chevalier1630
man about town1647
man of mode1676
man of distinction1699
sprag1707
sparky1756
blood1763
swell1786
Corinthian1819
galliard1828
mondain1833
toff1851
flâneur1854
Johnny1883
silver-tail1898
knut1911
lounge lizard1918
old buster1919
Hooray Henry1959
1595 Pleasant Quippes for Vpstart Gentle-women sig. A3v When yoong whiskers..In no good sorte, will spende the day: But be prophane, more than a Turke.
3. † b. A ‘whisking’ or blustering wind: see whisking adj. 1b. Obsolete.
a. slang or colloquial. Something great or excessive, a ‘whopper’ (cf. whisking adj. 2); esp. a great lie, a ‘bang’. Now rare or Obsolete.
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the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [noun] > an exceptionally large thing of its kind
swinger1599
rapper1653
thumper1660
whisker1668
spanker1751
slapper1781
whopper1785
skelper1790
smasher1794
pelter1811
swapper1818
jumbo1823
sneezer1823
whacker1825
whanger1825
infant1832
bulger1835
three-decker1835
bouncer1842
snorter1859
whalera1860
plonker1862
bruiser1868
snapper1874
plumper1881
boomer1885
heavy1897
sollicker1898
sanakatowzer1903
Moby Dicka1974
stonker1987
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [noun] > quality or fact of being extreme > something exceedingly great in degree
the utter1584
swinger1599
a devil of a ——1604
thumper1660
whisker1668
a (also the, one) hell of a ——c1680
swapperc1700
spanker1751
whopper1785
whacker1825
whanger1825
utmost1856
howler1872
hell1931
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > [noun] > a falsehood, lie > blatant, extravagant
a lie with a latchet1580
rapper1611
banger1657
thumper1660
whisker1668
swinger1671
thwacker1674
strapper1677
volunteer1680
hummer1699
swapperc1700
rouser?1770
plumper1776
whopper1791
bouncer1803
yanker1822
rattler1825
whacker1825
falsism1835
crumper1855
bang1879
out-and-outer1880
big lie1939
1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. 32 Relations belonging to Quantity..Greatness, Magnitude, ample, large, vast, huge,..whisker,..magnifie, aggravate, exaggerate.
1672 J. Eachard Let. 35 in Mr. Hobbs's State Nature Considered It may be convenient for you to call this..a flam, a whisker, a caprice.
1694 L. Echard tr. Plautus Amphitryon i. i, in tr. Plautus Comedies 9 Suppose I tell her some damn'd Wisker.
1858 T. Wright Dict. Obs. & Provincial Eng. (at cited word) ‘The dam of that was a whisker’, a phrase used when a great falsehood was uttered.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [noun] > strong or violent wind
birra1325
racka1400
galea1547
Euroclydon1561
huff-gale1582
whiskera1598
gale-wind1628
sniffler1768
snifter1768
storm wind1839
buster1848
snorter1855
snorer1871
blusterer1877
ripsnorter1889
smeller1898
hurricane wind1921
a1598 D. Fergusson Sc. Prov. (1641) sig. Dv March whisquer was never a good fisher.
4. The hair that grows on an adult man's face; formerly commonly applied to that on the upper lip, now called moustache, and sometimes to (or including) that on the chin (beard); now usually restricted to that on the cheeks or sides of the face.† c. Applied to a lady's curl hanging over the cheek. (Cf. whiskerette n. at Derivatives below.) Obsolete.
a. plural: usually collective; sometimes distributive, as a pair of whiskers, denoting the hair on the two sides.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > hair on lower part of face > [noun]
bristlea1300
subboscos1579
suberch1592
stubblea1596
whiskerc1600
facial hair1830
face fungus1904
zit1912
five o'clock shadow1937
shrubbery1937
the world > life > the body > hair > hair on lower part of face > [noun] > whiskers
whiskerc1600
whiskerage1858
sideboards1883
c1600 Timon (1980) ii. ii. 26 My wiskers hanging o're the ouerlipp.
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. 259 Some spruce yonker, with a starcht beard, and his whiskers turn'd vp.
1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis Pref. The rank Mustachos into whiskers grown.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 390 His [sc. Persian's] Beard is Cut neatly, and the Whiskers..encouraged from one Ear to the other, in fashion of an Half-Moon on the upper Lip, with only a decent Peak on the under.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 177 What grew on my upper Lip..I had trimm'd into a large Pair of Mahometan Whiskers.
1808 W. Wilson Hist. Dissenting Churches I. 141 The men members wore whiskers upon their upper lips.
1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 482 Whiskers, the hair on the upper lip—as until lately, I believe, all over England. Now, the hair under the ears—sometimes under the eyes also—bear[s] this term, and the labial comæ, are called moustaches.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xl. 441 A tall fellow, with..very thick bushy whiskers meeting under his chin.
1843 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross I. iii. 51 He grew whiskers under his chin.
1878 W. Besant & J. Rice By Celia's Arbour I. ii. 18 His whiskers..were cut to the old-fashioned regulation ‘mutton-chop’. They advanced into the middle of the cheek, and were then squared off in a line which met the large stiff collar below at an angle of forty-five.
b. singular: in earlier use, a moustache; now, the hair on one side of the face; also collectively.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > hair on lower part of face > [noun] > moustache
mustachio1551
mustachio beard1566
moustache1585
mustachiosa1593
bigote1622
dibble1631
umbrage1657
whisker1706
lip-wing1825
facial hair1830
mousetail1853
lip-hair1873
lip-thatch1892
hackles1894
mo1894
tash1894
zit1912
mouser1922
stash1940
taz1951
stache1963
mush1967
the world > life > the body > hair > hair on lower part of face > [noun] > whiskers > on one side of face
whisker1836
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Whisker, a tuft of Hair on the Upper Lip of a Man.
1762 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy V. i. 14 La Fosseuse..traced the outline of a small whisker..upon one side of her upper lip.
1836 H. Greville Diary 24 June (1883) 91 The ball lodged in the lining of the carriage, and some of the wadding in his whisker.
1846 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) ii. 13 He was a..shaggy fellow,..with a good deal of hair and whisker.
1851 in A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea (1863) I. xiv. 267 A mere lad without whisker or moustache.
1875 H. James Roderick Hudson v. 173 A tall..gentleman..with a carefully brushed whisker.
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the world > life > the body > hair > hair of head > curl > [noun]
feak1548
lovelock1592
crisple1594
curl1604
cockle1608
crisp1638
ringlet1645
cockera1653
heartbreaker1654
moustache1662
confidenta1685
cruchea1685
passagerea1685
favourite1690
wimpler1724
cannon1774
whisker1786
favori1801
curlet1803
tendril1814
sausage curl1828
spit-curl1831
crimp1855
curdle1860
number sices1861
whiskerette1880
1786 Pogonologia 55 About a century ago [in France] the ladies..curls hung down their cheeks as far as their bosom. These curls went by the name of whiskers.
d. to have whiskers and variants: (of news, a subject, etc.) to be no longer novel or fresh; similarly to grow whiskers. Also concr., of food: to become contaminated with mould.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > oldness or ancientness > [verb (intransitive)] > become old-fashioned > of news, a subject, etc.
to have whiskers1935
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > deteriorate in condition [verb (intransitive)] > become mouldy or musty
vinnyOE
moul?c1225
mould1530
foisty1572
hoar1573
milder1592
musty1631
to grow whiskers1977
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > corruption or putridness > become corrupt or putrid [verb (intransitive)] > become musty or mouldy
vinnyOE
moul?c1225
mould1530
must1530
foisty1572
hoar1573
musty1631
mildew1651
to grow whiskers1977
1935 D. L. Sayers Gaudy Night viii. 182 That old story... It's got whiskers on it—it's six years old.
1951 M. Kennedy Lucy Carmichael vii. i. 345 I am putting on Capek's R.U.R. But it has got whiskers. It was quite a novelty when it was first put on.
1959 Times 6 May 4/6 The subject is beginning to grow whiskers.
1977 D. Francis Risk vii. 78 The steak in the fridge had grown whiskers.
1977 D. O'Sullivan in D. Marcus Best Irish Short Stories II. 90 ‘Did I ever tell you the one about the Scotsman and the octopus?’.. ‘It has whiskers.’
5.
a. Each of a set of projecting hairs or bristles growing on the upper lip or about the mouth of certain animals; also applied to a similar set of feathers in certain birds, and to mystacial markings.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > covering or skin > [noun] > coat > hair, wool, or fur > hair round mouth
mustachios1605
moustache1622
whisker1678
vibrissae?1839
the world > animals > birds > feather > [noun] > other specific types
drivings1682
whisker1752
subaxillary1820
accessory plume1835
flake-feather1837
filoplume1867
penna1871
thread-feather1872
deck-feather1879
streamer1879
racket1887
afterfeather1937
1678 London Gaz. No. 1342/4 A light gray Gelding,..with an iron mark of a G. on the near Buttock, and two whiskers on the upper lip.
1712 E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 329 The Raccoon has..Whiskers and Nose like a Pig.
1748 T. Gray Ode Death Favourite Cat iv, in R. Dodsley Coll. Poems II. 269 A whisker first and then a claw.
1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 352 The lesser Butcher-bird,..there are about the angles of the beak certain rigid bristles or hairs, which serve as whiskers.
1830 M. Donovan Domest. Econ. II. iii. 85 The sea-otter is a large animal... The eyes are small; the whiskers are white, strong, and numerous.
1881 T. H. Huxley Sci. & Culture 266 The ‘whiskers’ of cats owe their functional importance to the abundant supply of nerves to the follicles in which their bases are lodged.
b. figurative. A very small distance or amount, a fraction: used chiefly in comparisons. colloquial (originally U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > a small quantity or amount > a very small amount
shredc1000
farthingsworthc1325
pennyworthc1330
incha1350
sliverc1374
chipa1393
gnastc1440
Jack1530
spoonful1531
crumba1535
spark1548
slight1549
pin's worth1562
scruple1574
thought1581
pinch1583
scrap1583
splinter1609
ticket1634
notchet1637
indivisible1644
tinyc1650
twopence1691
turn of the scale(s)1706
enough to swear by1756
touch1786
scrimptiona1825
infinitesimal1840
smidgen1841
snuff1842
fluxion1846
smitchel1856
eyelash1860
smidge1866
tenpenceworth1896
whisker1913
tidge1986
1913 Dial. Notes 4 6 Whisker, n., a little; a trifle. ‘Move it just a whisker.’
1953 Wall St. Jrnl. 11 Aug. 1/5 The London price is still a whisker below the 30 cents a pound charged by major U.S. producers.
1973 P. O'Donnell Silver Mistress i. 13 Sooner or later they would go on a job and not come back... Even in the past year they had come within a whisker of it twice.
1980 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts Mar. 236/2 In these storms at sea, sunsets, sunrises, cloud formations and light conditions, Turner was within a whisker of pre-empting the great Monet himself.
1983 Times 15 July 18/3 Yesterday the shares rose 2p to 99p—a whisker from the year's high.
1984 Listener 14 June 15/3 Someone shoots for goal, and he either misses it by a whisker or by miles.
c. A wire used to form a rectifying contact with the surface of a semiconductor; cf. cat's whisker n. at cat n.1 Compounds 4a.
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the world > matter > physics > solid state physics > semiconductivity > [noun] > contact with surface > wire used for
whisker1949
1915 A. F. Collins Bk. Wireless 205 Adjust the wire until the pointed end presses on the crystal and you will have what is called a cat-whisker detector.
1949 Ann. Reg. 1948 418 By the addition of a second wire whisker touching the germanium within a few thousands of an inch of the first the diode was converted into a triode.
1959 K. Henney Radio Engin. Handbk. (ed. 5) ix. 15 These diodes are representative of a family of germanium point-contact diodes using unplated whiskers.
1975 D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. ix. 62 Until 1965 point contact diodes were fabricated utilizing moderately low resistivity material with the rectifying contact established by contacting the semiconductor surface with a metal whisker.
6. Nautical.
a. Each of two wooden or iron spars extending laterally on each side of the bowsprit, for spreading the guys of the jib-boom.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > spar > [noun] > spar projecting over bows > extension of > spar for guys of
martingale1794
dolphin-striker1834
whisker1844
1844 Mrs. Houstoun Texas & Gulf of Mexico II. 15 Our fore-top-mast was carried away, as well as the larboard whisker.
1885 A. Brassey In Trades 382 It was found that the whiskers of the jibboom had carried away.
1913 M. Roberts Salt of Sea viii. 208 Between the whiskers and the fore-mast.
b. A lever for exploding a torpedo.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > naval weapons and equipment > [noun] > torpedo > parts of
whisker1880
warhead1898
1880 C. Sleeman Torpedoes 135 In addition to the nose piece, horizontal and vertical levers, or whiskers, may also be used.
7. A single crystal that has grown in a filamentous form a few microns thick, characterized by a tensile strength much greater than the bulk material and used in quantity as reinforcing agents.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystal (general) > [noun] > single crystal > whisker
whisker1946
1946 Monthly Rev. Amer. Electroplaters' Soc. Jan. 28/1 The growth of needle-crystals on cadmium deposits has caused considerable annoyance in the radio industry. These crystals are known as ‘whiskers’. They grow between condenser plates of variable condensers, and, being electrical conductors, actually short-circuit the plates.
1951 Corrosion VII. 329/1 An attempt was made to develop whisker growths in the laboratory.
1961 New Scientist 28 Dec. 776/3 Whiskers, the hair-like crystals which are far stronger than steel, are now being incorporated in bonding materials: for example, General Electric's silver reinforced with sapphire whiskers.
1973 Sci. Amer. July 44/2 Alumina whiskers have a tensile strength of up to three million pounds per square inch and a modulus of 62 million pounds per square inch.
Compounds
C1. attributive and in other combinations (in sense 4).
ΚΠ
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Wisker splitter, a man of intrigue.
1786 Pogonologia 80 It was then [sc. in Lewis XIV's reign] no uncommon thing for a..lover to have his whiskers..combed, and pomatumed by his mistress; and..a man of fashion took care to be..provided with..whisker-wax.
1813 T. Moore Intercepted Lett. viii. 14 When the rich rouge-pot..Tips even thy whisker-tops with red.
1853 ‘C. Bede’ Adventures Mr. Verdant Green xi. 106 He told Verdant, that his claret had been repeatedly tapped,..his whisker-bed [i.e. face] napped heavily.
C2.
whisker pole n. Nautical (see quot. 1976); = sense 6a.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > spar > [noun] > pole controlling position of sail > types of
portlof1432
outligger1481
bumkin?c1613
driver-boom1750
ringtail-boom1769
spanker-boom1813
swinging-boom1840
jackyard1862
whisker pole1954
wishbone1984
1954 Motor Boating Dec. 27/1 Iris was flying all her kites—main, mizzen, genoa winged out on the whisker pole, and mizzen staysails.
1960 J. J. Rowlands Spindrift 204 On the yacht-club float a girl..is rubbing down the last coat of varnish on a whisker pole.
1976 P. Kemp Oxf. Compan. Ships & Sea 938/1 Whisker pole, a short bearing-out spar used in yachts and sailing dinghies to bear out the clew of the jib on the opposite side of the mainsail when running before the wind, thus obtaining some of the advantage which would be gained in a larger vessel when she sets a spinnaker.
1980 Yachts & Yachting 29 Feb. 651/2 ‘American Express’ carried two poles that extended from 11.5 ft to 18 ft plus a standard pole of 7.5 ft. The long ones were used as a spinnaker pole in the collapsed position, as whisker pole in the fully extended position, and as a bowsprit in the 14ft length.
Derivatives
ˈwhisker v. (transitive) to furnish with whiskers.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > hair on lower part of face > [verb (transitive)] > whiskers
whisker1812
1812 Examiner 5 Oct. 632/2 Deliberating how still further to Germanize and to whisker out British soldiers.
ˈwhiskerage n. whiskers collectively, a growth of whiskers.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > hair on lower part of face > [noun] > whiskers
whiskerc1600
whiskerage1858
sideboards1883
1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia I. i. i. 9 Fellows..with such a breadth of sabre, extent of whiskerage [etc.].
1859 G. Meredith Ordeal Richard Feverel III. v. 138 The trim of their whiskerage.
ˈwhiskerer n. a man who wears whiskers.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > hair on lower part of face > [noun] > whiskers > person having
whiskerer1717
whiskerandos1807
1717 Entertainer No. i. 4 We are no Whiskerers of the Order of St. Jacobs.
whiskeˈrette n. a small whisker; a curl at the side of a girl's face (cf. sense 4c above).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > hair of head > curl > [noun]
feak1548
lovelock1592
crisple1594
curl1604
cockle1608
crisp1638
ringlet1645
cockera1653
heartbreaker1654
moustache1662
confidenta1685
cruchea1685
passagerea1685
favourite1690
wimpler1724
cannon1774
whisker1786
favori1801
curlet1803
tendril1814
sausage curl1828
spit-curl1831
crimp1855
curdle1860
number sices1861
whiskerette1880
the world > life > the body > hair > hair on lower part of face > [noun] > whiskers > types of
whiskerette1880
1880 Athenæum 2 Oct. 440 Her hair is trimly curled in ‘whiskerettes’.
1896 Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch 23 Sept. A man wearing whiskers,..his chin shaven and allowing two distinct whiskerettes to be plainly discerned.
ˈwhiskerless adj. destitute of whiskers.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > hair on lower part of face > [adjective] > whiskers > having no
unwhiskered1812
whiskerless1843
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) ii. 10 His very throat was moral... Serene and whiskerless.
1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xxxi. 310 Mr. Towlinson is whiskerless.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
whiskern.2
/ˈwɪskə/, U.S. /ˈ(h)wɪskər/Categories »
A whist-player: see whisk n.2
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
> as lemmas
whisker
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n.1c1425
n.2as lemmas
- horse-rack
- horse-railroad
- horse-railway
- horse-raised
- horse-rake
- horse-raking
- horse-ride
- horse-rider
- horse-riding
- horse-road
- horse-rod
- horse-roller
- horse-rough
- horse-rug
- horse-run
- horse-running
- horse-rustler
- horse-sausage
- horse-seller
- horse-serum
- horse-shaft
- horse-shed
- horse-ship
- horse-shoeing
- horse-shoer