Whisk'er, n.

n. [From whisk.] 1. He who, or that which whisks, or moves with a quick, sweeping motion.

2Sense 2. That part of the beard which grows upon the sides of the face, or the cheeks; also, formerly, the hair of the upper lip, or mustache. “Hoary whiskers and a forky beard.” Pope.

3Sense 3. Hence, the long, projecting hairs growing at the sides of the mouth of a cat, or other such animal.

☞ “The fact seems to be that, until quite a recent period, the whisker, as now understood, was regarded as a mere adjunct or tributary of the beard. Indeed, there was no necessity for any distinction until the absurd and unnatural practice of shaving came into vogue. Long after that epoch—to wit, in the days of Dr. Sam. Johnson—the word whisker meant, not the hair of the cheek, but ‘the hair growing upon the upper lip: the mustaches.’ Now, the lexicographer derives whisker from ‘whisk,’ ‘a small besom or brush,’ which the facial whisker of our time sufficiently resembles when unaccompanied by the chin-beard.” Loner.