Bewhiskering

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Definitions

1. Furnishing or covering something with whiskers, or growing a thick fringe of whisker-like hair on a face or body
2. Providing a face or muzzle with a bristly growth of whiskers in the manner of a whiskered animal or a person with facial hair
3. Decorating or fringing an object or creature with hair resembling whiskers, a rare and whimsical descriptive act

Etymology: "Bewhiskering" is the present participle of "bewhisker," a verb formed by adding the prefix "be-" to "whisker." In this case "be-" carries its old sense of "at, on, upon," so to bewhisker something is to put whiskers upon it, or to cover it with whiskers. The prefix is the same one found in verbs like "bedew" or "bespatter," where it likewise attaches a sense of covering or surrounding to a plain noun. The base word "whisker" is itself a native English formation, built from the verb "whisk" in the sense of moving quickly, with the agent-like ending "-er." Hairs around the mouth of an animal were thus named for their quick, brushing motion. Because the whole word is a transparent combination of a prefix and a common noun, there is no hidden story here beyond the everyday meanings of its parts.