vibrissa en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /vɪˈbɹɪsə/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin vibrissae.
Meanings
-
Any of the tactile whiskers on the nose of an animal such as a cat.
There are also long hairs inside each ear and sometimes on its tip, and about a dozen very long and strong hairs—the whiskers or vibrissæ— are placed on each upper lip.
1881, St George Jackson Mivart, The Cat, London: Murray, page 14:
- Any similar feather near the mouth of some birds.
-
(in-plural) A thick hair found inside the nostrils of humans and other mammals.
The vibrissae are coarse hairs whose follicles are located just within the nasal meatus. […] Vibrissae are present in most mammals, but their innervation and role in sensory function appears to be less pronounced in humans.
2012, David W. Kennedy, Peter H. Hwang, editors, Rhinology: Diseases of the Nose, Sinuses, and Skull Base, Thieme, →ISBN:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| vibrissae | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
microvibrissa · multivibrissa · vibrissectomy · macrovibrissa · vibrissal
Synonyms
Translations (4)
pl włos zatokowy (whisker) · pl wibrys (whisker) · pl włos czuciowy (whisker) · hu orrszőrzet (whisker)