Whale Definition

wāl, hwāl
whaled, whales, whaling
noun
whales
Any member of either of two orders (Mysticeta and Odontoceta) of aquatic mammals that breathe air, bear live young, and have front limbs that have been modified into flippers, and a flat, horizontal tail.
Webster's New World
Any of various marine mammals of the order Cetacea; a cetacean.
American Heritage
Any of the larger members of these two groups, excluding the porpoises and dolphins generally, but including the killer whale.
Webster's New World
An impressive example.
A whale of a story.
American Heritage

(figuratively) Something, or someone, that is very large.

Wiktionary
Synonyms:
verb
whaled, whaling
To engage in the work of hunting whales.
Webster's New World
To beat; whip; thrash.
Webster's New World
To strike or hit (a ball) with great force.
American Heritage
To strike or hit a person or thing repeatedly and forcefully.
Whaled away at the plaster wall with a mallet.
American Heritage
To swing at a ball with great effort, especially repeatedly.
American Heritage
idiom
a whale of a
  • an exceptionally large, fine, etc. example of a (class of persons or things)
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Whale

Noun

Singular:
whale
Plural:
Whales

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Whale

  • a whale of a

Origin of Whale

  • From Middle English whale, from Old English hwæl, from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz (compare German Wal, Low German Waal, Danish hval; cf. also Dutch walvis, West Frisian walfisk, Low German Waalfisch), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷálos 'sheatfish' (compare German Wels, Latin squalus (“big sea fish"), Old Prussian kalis, Ancient Greek ἄσπαλος (áspalos), Avestan 𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬐 (kara, “kind of fish")).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English from Old English hwæl

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Origin unknown

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Whale Sentence Examples

  • Those hoses pack a whale of a wallop.

  • He's a personable young man and a whale of a basketball player.

  • Fella had my shoe size and his wife gave me a whale of a deal.

  • The bay is noted as a centre of the whale and seal fishery.

  • In the past two centuries with very little technology, we've come from whale oil and wood to solar and nuclear.

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Words Starting With

WWHWHA

Words Ending With

ELEALE

Unscrambles

whale

Words Starting With W and Ending With E

Starts With W & Ends With EStarts With WH & Ends With EStarts With W & Ends With LE

Word Length

5 Letter Words5 Letter Words Starting With W5 Letter Words Ending With E