cat’s whisker —(in old-fashioned crystal radios) a wire that makes contact with a semiconductor:
- Many of these receivers used the “cat’s whisker” type of crystal diode for detection of a radio signal.
cat’s whiskers —(coll.) the acme of excellence; a person or thing most highly approved of:
- My new secretary thinks she is the cat’s whiskers though she is no better than the last one.
Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase between you and me and the cat’s whiskers—said when telling smth. to a person that you want him to keep secret:
- The water was cool, white and pure … and we felt divine taking bath in it. The location of the waterfall is between six of us and the cat’s whiskers.