whisker [LME] A whisker was originally a bundle of twigs used to whisk with. It was used for facial hair, particularly a moustache from about 1600, presumably because of some perceived similarity, and only used of animals at the end of the 17th century. Cat’s whisker was used for the wire used to tune an early crystal radio set at the start of the 20th century. The card game whist was originally called whisk when it came in during the mid 17th century, supposedly from a hushing sound, because the game was played in silence.