whisker
anatomy specialized
any of the thick hairs inside the human nose that stop small pieces of dust, liquid, etc. going further into the nose:
The vestibule is lined with numerous short stiff hairs, called the vibrissae.
The vibrissae arrest the passage of foreign substances and protect the nasal cavity and respiratory tract.
Nocturnal primates also have well-developed vibrissae, or whiskers.
A single vibrissa of the ringed seal contains ten times the number of nerve fibres typically found in one vibrissa of a land mammal.
The mucus-coated nasal vibrissae are known to have an efficient filtering action on bacteria suspended in the inspired air.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases The skin, hair & bone of non-human animals
ala
baleen
bristle
bristly
coated
cowhide
dander
downy
feather
fleece
mane
plumule
prickle
sable
seashell
spine
spinneret
whalebone
whiskery
wishbone
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
The nose