Baleen Definition

bəlēn
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; whalebone.
Webster's New World

(physiology, uncountable) The plates in the mouth of the baleen whale, Mysticeti, which it uses to trap its food; formerly used in corsetry.

Wiktionary
(zoology, countable) A baleen whale.
Wiktionary
Synonyms:
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Other Word Forms of Baleen

Noun

Singular:
baleen
Plural:
baleens

Origin of Baleen

  • From Old French baleine (“whale, whalebone”), from Latin balaena (“whale”), from Ancient Greek φάλαινα (phalaina, “whale”).

    From Wiktionary

Baleen Sentence Examples

  • Rorqual whales such as the fin and minke whales have much shorter, firmer baleen and feed by gulping.

  • It can record baleen whale calls within an area of up to 50 km around the device.

  • Like most other baleen whales, they spend the winters in warm waters and migrate to cold seas to feed in summer.

  • Believe it or not, the larger baleen whales are still commercially extinct.

  • They have very long flexible baleen plates that catch the tiny plankton in the hairs.

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Find Similar Words

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Words Starting With

BBABAL

Words Ending With

NENEEN

Unscrambles

baleen

Words Starting With B and Ending With N

Starts With B & Ends With NStarts With BA & Ends With NStarts With B & Ends With EN

Word Length

6 Letter Words6 Letter Words Starting With B6 Letter Words Ending With N