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baleen definition

ba·leen (bə lēn′)

noun

the horny, elastic plates that hang down in fringed, parallel columns from the upper jaw or palate of baleen whales and serve as a strainer that catches plankton while a whale is feeding

Etymology: ME & OFr baleine < L ballaena < Gr phallaina, whale < phallos (see phallus): so named from the shape of the whale

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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