whale
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whale
hit, beat, strike hard: whale away at the bully; a very large cetacean
Not to be confused with:
wail – moan or lament; to cry loudly: The toddler is sure to wail when his mother leaves.
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree
whale 1
(wāl, hwāl)n.
1.
a. Any of various marine mammals of the order Cetacea; a cetacean.
b. Any of various larger members of this order, including the blue whale, humpback whale, and right whale, in contrast to the porpoises and dolphins.
2. Informal An impressive example: a whale of a story.
intr.v. whaled, whal·ing, whales
To engage in the hunting of whales.
[Middle English, from Old English hwæl.]
whale 2
(wāl, hwāl)v. whaled, whal·ing, whales
v.tr.
1. To strike or hit repeatedly and forcefully; thrash.
2. To strike or hit (a ball) with great force.
v.intr.
1. To strike or hit a person or thing repeatedly and forcefully: whaled away at the plaster wall with a mallet.
2. To swing at a ball with great effort, especially repeatedly.
3. To attack vehemently: The poet whaled away at the critics.
[Origin unknown.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
whale
(weɪl)n, pl whales or whale
1. (Animals) any of the larger cetacean mammals, excluding dolphins, porpoises, and narwhals. They have flippers, a streamlined body, and a horizontally flattened tail and breathe through a blowhole on the top of the head.
2. (Animals) any cetacean mammal. See also toothed whale, whalebone whale
3. (Gambling, except Cards) slang a gambler who has the capacity to win and lose large sums of money in a casino
4. a whale of a informal an exceptionally large, fine, etc, example of a (person or thing): we had a whale of a time on holiday.
[Old English hwæl; related to Old Saxon, Old High German hwal, Old Norse hvalr, Latin squalus seapig]
whale
(weɪl)vb
(tr) to beat or thrash soundly
[C18: variant of wale1]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
whale1
(ʰweɪl, weɪl)n., pl. whales, (esp. collectively) whale, n.
1. any of the larger marine mammals of the order Cetacea, esp. as distinguished from the smaller dolphins, having a fishlike body, forelimbs modified into flippers, and a horizontally flattened head.
2. something big, great, or fine of its kind: I had a whale of a time in Europe.
3. (cap.) the constellation Cetus.
v.i. 4. to engage in whaling or whale fishing.
[before 900; Middle English; Old English hwæl, c. Old High German wal, Old Norse hvalr]
whale2
(ʰweɪl, weɪl)v.t., v.i. whaled, whal•ing.
to hit, thrash, or beat soundly.
[1780–90; orig. uncertain]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
whale
(wāl) Any of various, often large sea mammals that have a streamlined body resembling that of a fish, forelimbs shaped like flippers, a tail with horizontal flukes, and one or two blowholes for breathing. The mouths of whales are toothed or contain baleen.
Did You Know? In a submarine, you can ride down thousands of feet underwater. But if you swam outside it, the water pressure would crush you like a soda can. Amazingly, there are many animals that happily exist in such conditions. The sperm whale, for instance, may dive as deep as two miles with no ill effects. A male sperm whale is like a living tractor-trailer truck, almost 60 feet long and weighing 45 tons. Many adaptations allow the huge creature, and other deep-sea organisms, to function normally at great depths. One important strength is actually a weakness: unlike our rigid ribs, the whale's flexible ribcage allows its chest cavity to collapse in a controlled way as the pressure increases. Other adaptations control the way gases are stored in the blood. Unlike people, whales do not have to return to the surface gradually to avoid getting the bends—the sometimes deadly formation of nitrogen bubbles caused by expanding gas in the blood. Because of this adaptation, whales can swim up and down as fast as they like, undergoing tremendous variation in pressure, with no ill effects. It's all just water to them.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
whale
Past participle: whaled
Gerund: whaling
| Imperative |
|---|
| whale |
| whale |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Noun | 1. |  whale - a very large person; impressive in size or qualitieslarge person - a person of greater than average size |
| 2. | whale - any of the larger cetacean mammals having a streamlined body and breathing through a blowhole on the head cetacean, cetacean mammal, blower - large aquatic carnivorous mammal with fin-like forelimbs no hind limbs, including: whales; dolphins; porpoises; narwhals baleen whale, whalebone whale - whale with plates of whalebone along the upper jaw for filtering plankton from the water toothed whale - any of several whales having simple conical teeth and feeding on fish etc. Monodon monoceros, narwal, narwhal, narwhale - small Arctic whale the male having a long spiral ivory tusk spouter - a spouting whale | |
| Verb | 1. | whale - hunt for whales hunt, hunt down, track down, run - pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals); "Goering often hunted wild boars in Poland"; "The dogs are running deer"; "The Duke hunted in these woods" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
whale
nounWhales and dolphins
beluga, baleen whale, blue whale or sulphur-bottom, bottlenose dolphin, bowhead, dorado, Greenland whale, greyback or grey whale, humpback whale, killer whale, grampus, or orc, minke whale, narwhal, pilot whale, black whale, or blackfish, porpoise, right whale, rorqual, sei whale, sperm whale or cachalot, toothed whale, whalebone whale, white whaleCollins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Translations
حوتحُوت
velryba
hval
valas
kit
bálna
hvalur
クジラ
고래
banginio taukaibanginio ūsasbanginisdalginis delfinas
valis
veľryba
kit
val
ปลาวาฬ
cá voi
whale
[weɪl]A. N (whales or whale (pl)) → ballena f
a whale of a difference → una enorme diferencia
to have a whale of a time → pasarlo bomba or (S. Cone) regio
a whale of a difference → una enorme diferencia
to have a whale of a time → pasarlo bomba or (S. Cone) regio
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
whale
[ˈhweɪl] n (= animal) → baleine f
to have a whale of a time (= to have a great time) → s'amuser comme un(e) fou (folle)
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
whale
n
→ Wal m
(inf) a whale of (= exceedingly great, good etc) → ein(e) riesige(r, s); a whale of a difference → ein himmelweiter Unterschied; a whale of a party → eine Wahnsinnsparty (inf); to have a whale of a time → sich prima amüsieren
whale
:whalebone
n → Fischbein nt
whaleman
n (US) → Walfänger m
whale oil
n → Walöl nt, → Tran m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
whale
(weil) noun a type of very large mammal that lives in the sea.
killer whale noun a black and white whale.
ˈwhalebone noun, adjective (of) a light bendable substance got from the upper jaw of certain whales.
whale oil oil obtained from the fatty parts of a whale.
have a whale of a time to enjoy oneself very much.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
whale
→ حُوت velryba hval Wal φάλαινα ballena valas baleine kit balena クジラ 고래 walvis hval wieloryb baleia кит val ปลาวาฬ balina cá voi 鲸Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009