whiskery

English

Etymology 1

whisker + -y

Adjective

whiskery (comparative more whiskery, superlative most whiskery)

  1. Having whiskers.
    • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Chapter 34, Snobs and Marriage”, in The Book of Snobs:
      [] the old lady is as ugly as any woman in the parish, and as tall and whiskery as a Grenadier.
    • 1902, Jack London, “Chapter 20”, in A Daughter of the Snows, New York: Grosset & Dunlap:
      “Don’t you my-dear me,” she sniffed. “I don’t like you.”
      “Why?”
      “Cos . . .” She ladled the punch carefully into the mugs and meditated. “Cos you chew tobacco. Cos you’re whiskery. Wot I take to is smooth-faced young chaps.”
    • 1966, Truman Capote, “Chapter 2”, in In Cold Blood, New York: Modern Library, published 1992, page 179:
      At a corner table two whiskery ranch hands were playing checkers.
    • 2008, Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture, London: Faber & Faber, Part One, Chapter Eight, page 81:
      I looked at Dr Grene and tried to imagine him altered by the moon, more whiskery, a werewolf possibly.
  2. Having protrusions resembling whiskers.
    • 1962, Edward Abbey, “Chapter 2”, in Fire on the Mountain, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, published 1978, page 73:
      Smiling, he gave us a salute, turned his horse and rode down the trail, through the high hairy weeds and whiskery flowers thriving among the rocks and faded ruts of the road.
    • 2005, Martha L Crump, Alan Crump, Headless males make great lovers:
      The whiskery batfish (a kind of anglerfish) is covered with outgrowths of skin that resemble bits of seaweed.
  3. Resembling whiskers.
    • 1929, Henry Handel Richardson, Ultima Thule, New York: Norton, Part One, Chapter 7, page 72:
      [] all the white trees, tall like poles, that went up and up to where, right at the top, among whiskery branches, were bits of blue that were the sky.
    • 1981, Wendy Simons, Odd Woman Out, New York: St. Martin’s Press, Chapter 20, p. 184,
      He nodded his head toward an ancient armchair spewing out its whiskery stuffing.
    • 2017, Stephanie Zacharek, “In Life, the blob from Mars is small and very scary,” Time, 3 April, 2017,
      At first, all he sees is a harmless-looking blob, a microscopic single-cell organism sporting a couple of whiskery flagella.
  4. Involving or caused by whiskers.
  5. (UK, humorous) Old.
    • 2001, Peter Mayle, French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew, New York: Knopf, “The Inner Frenchman,” p. 8,
      It is, of course, the most whiskery old cliché, but clichés usually have their basis in fact, and this one certainly does: Historically, the French have paid extraordinary—some would say excessive—attention to what they eat and how they eat it.
    • 2009, January 14, “Simon Hoggart”, in Simon Hoggart’s Sketch: Short-selling sermons as God takes on Mammon:
      I checked it out, and there were some good—if whiskery—stories.
Synonyms

Etymology 2

From whiskey/whisky + -ery.

Noun

whiskery (plural whiskeries)

  1. (rare) A whiskey distillery.
    • 1915 June 10, Parliamentary Debates, published 1917, page 3925:
      [] where the house of God was hidden by whiskeries, wineries, and breweries that were built against it.
    • 1968, Bob Davis, The Dingle War, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., page 1:
      Even today, Devin’s story is told and retold in the local whiskeries and his critics secretly wish he would come swaggering back with another bombastic plan to enhance their wealth.
    • 1976 November 11, Daily News, volume 58, number 119, New York, N.Y., page 4:
      Long synonomous[sic] with top-drawer talent, first-rate eateries, top-shelf whiskeries, Our Town has worn the crunchy fruit like a medal.
    • 2008, V!VA Travel Guides Colombia, Viva Publishing Network, →ISBN, page 193:
      Honda still has the reputation of being overrun by whiskeries and brothels.
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