Minke-whale definition
Either of two small, dark gray baleen whales, Balaenoptera acutorostrata, which is found worldwide and has a white band on the flippers, or B. bonaerensis, which inhabits Antarctic waters.
noun
A small, swift rorqual whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) with a dark body and a light belly.
noun
Origin of minke-whale
- Partial translation of Norwegian minkehval minke (perhaps after Meincke , member of a 19th-century Norwegian whaling crew) hval whale
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition