whisker

Something or someone that is highly enjoyable, desirable, or impressive, especially in a fancy or elaborate way. Tom's new Cadillac is really the cat's whiskers! Boy, that singer last night was the cat's whiskers, wasn't she?

Fig. just barely; by a very small distance. I just missed getting on the plane by a hair's breadth. I made it onto the last flight by a hair!

Fig. to win by the slightest amount of difference. (Can be literal in horses races.) I ran the fastest race I could, but I only won by a nose. Sally won the race, but she only won by a nose.

close to something Yesterday, the price of oil came within a whisker of its all-time high. An asteroid came within a whisker of crashing into the earth.

to be better than everyone else I thought I was the cat's whiskers in my new dress.

by a very small amount Last time she raced against the Brazilian she won by a whisker. He missed the goal by a whisker.

if you come within a whisker of doing something, you almost do it or it almost happens to you He came within a whisker of beating the world champion. Several times on his trek through the jungle he came within a whisker of death.

Also, by a hairbreadth or whisker . Very narrowly. For example, His serve was out by a hair, or We made our flight by a hairbreadth, or Dad missed hitting the pole by a whisker. The first two hyperboles for the very narrowest margin date from the 1300s and 1400s respectively; whisker meaning "a small amount" was first recorded in 1913. Also see by the skin of one's teeth; hang by a hair.

Also, win by a whisker. Just barely succeed, as in Sally's political cartoon came in first in the contest, but I heard that she won by a nose . This term comes from horseracing, where from about 1900 on it referred to a finish so close that only a portion of the horse's nose reached the finish ahead of the second horse. A whisker-that is, a hair-is a narrower margin yet. [Second half of 1900s]