whisker

IPA/ˈwɪskə(r)/
KK[wˈɪskɚ]IPA/ˈwɪskər/

whisker — noun

  • whiskersingular
  • whiskersplural

1. The long, thick hairs that grow around the nose, mouth, and face of animals such

1.名詞B1
釋義

The long, thick hairs that grow around the nose, mouth, and face of animals such as cats, mice, dogs, and seals. Whiskers help the animal sense nearby objects, air movements, and changes in its surroundings.

例句

The cat's long white whiskers twitched as it watched the bird through the window.

collocation: whiskers twitched

Mice use their whiskers to check whether they can squeeze through a narrow gap.

use whiskers to [verb]

同義詞
  • bristle

    shorter and stiffer than whiskers; often used for pigs or certain plants

  • vibrissae

    the technical biological term for whiskers; rarely used in everyday conversation

文法句型

plural: whiskers

用法筆記

Whiskers on animals serve a sensory function — they are different from ordinary fur. The scientific term for whiskers is vibrissae, but learners do not need to use that word.

常見錯誤

❌The dog has whiskers on its back.
✅The dog has whiskers on its face near its nose.
💡whiskers grow only around the face and mouth, not on the body.

2. The individual hairs that grow on a man's cheeks, chin, and the lower part of hi

2.名詞B2
釋義

The individual hairs that grow on a man's cheeks, chin, and the lower part of his face, especially when they are longer or thicker than stubble. Does not usually include the hair above the upper lip (the moustache).

例句

Naoko noticed that her grandfather's white whiskers were stiff and rough against his skin.

possessive + whiskers (grandfather's whiskers)

Rodrigo trimmed the whiskers on his cheeks every few days to keep a neat appearance.

trim whiskers on [body part]

同義詞
  • beard

    refers to the whole growth on the chin, cheeks, and neck; broader than whiskers

  • stubble

    very short, rough hair that grows back after shaving, usually one or two days' growth

  • sideburns

    the strips of hair growing down the sides of the face in front of the ears

文法句型

plural: whiskers

possessive + whiskers

用法筆記

Whisker is less common than beard for the overall growth on a man's face. Whiskers suggests individual, visible hairs — especially on the cheeks and chin — rather than a full, thick beard. Moustache is the term for hair above the upper lip.

常見錯誤

❌She has whiskers on her face.
✅She has fine hair on her face.
💡whiskers is almost always used for men; for women or children, use 'facial hair' or 'peach fuzz'.

3. An extremely small amount, distance, or margin. Used in fixed phrases to say tha

3.名詞B2
釋義

An extremely small amount, distance, or margin. Used in fixed phrases to say that something almost happened or that someone barely won or lost — for example, winning a race by a whisker means winning by the smallest possible distance.

例句

The horse won the race by a whisker, crossing just ahead of the second-place runner.

by a whisker (fixed phrase for narrow margin)

Walid's team missed the championship by a whisker when the final shot hit the post.

miss + by a whisker

同義詞
  • hair's breadth

    slightly more formal than whisker; also means a very small distance or margin

  • fraction

    a small part of something, often used for amounts rather than distances

  • tad

    informal; means a small amount, but not used for distances or margins in the same way

反義詞
  • mile

    a large distance, used contrastively ('miles ahead' vs 'by a whisker')

  • lot

    a large amount or degree

文法句型

by a whisker

within a whisker of [something]

用法筆記

Always used in fixed expressions — you cannot say 'there was a whisker of coffee left in the cup.' The three main patterns are 'by a whisker,' 'within a whisker of (doing) something,' and 'a whisker away from something.'

常見錯誤

❌I only have a whisker of time left.
✅I only have a tiny bit of time left.
💡whisker is only used for distances, margins, or degrees of 'almost happening,' not for quantities of things like time or food.
❌He won by a whisker of a second.
✅He won by a whisker.
💡do not add 'of a second'; the phrase is complete on its own.