The Collaborative International Dictionary
Vibrissa \Vi*bris"sa\, n.; pl. Vibriss[ae]. [L. vibrissae, pl., the hairs in the nostrils of man, fr. vibrare to vibrate; -- so called because touching them tickles a person, and causes him to shake his head.]
(Anat.) One of the specialized or tactile hairs which grow about the nostrils, or on other parts of the face, in many animals, as the so-called whiskers of the cat, and the hairs of the nostrils of man.
(Zo["o]l.) The bristlelike feathers near the mouth of many birds.
Wiktionary
n. (en-irregular plural of: vibrissa)
WordNet
n. a long stiff hair growing from the snout or brow of most mammals as e.g. a cat [syn: whisker, sensory hair]
[also: vibrissae (pl)]
See vibrissa
Usage examples of "vibrissae".
His grasping limbs were straight and strong, his prehensile, manipulative vibrissae were numerous and delicate and his optic patches were more beautifully opalescent than any she had ever seen.
And over time bodies had been shaped by the restrictions of tunnel life: useless eyes were lost, nails became digging claws, body hair evaporated save for vibrissae, whiskers, which sprouted from lengthening muzzles, the better to help them feel their way in the dark.
And now the machine was reproducing every ripple, every tremble of vibrissae, every chemical nuance, at an information rate that no human brain could absorb even if the connections had been there.