Link Centre Dictionary

whale

UK/ˈwɛj(ə)l/ US/ˈweɪl/ common informal slang
noun (2) verb (1)

noun

1.

a very large person; impressive in size or qualities

Synonyms
2.

any of the larger cetacean mammals having a streamlined body and breathing through a blowhole on the head

verb

1.

hunt for whales

Origin

From Middle English whal, whale, from Old English hwæl (“whale”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwal, from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz (“whale”) (compare German Wal, Swedish val, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hval, Norwegian Nynorsk kval; compare also Dutch walvis, West Frisian walfisk, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷálos (“sheatfish”) (compare German Wels, Latin squalus (“big sea fish”), Old Prussian kalis, Ancient Greek ἄσπαλος (áspalos), Avestan 𐬐𐬀𐬭𐬀 (kara, “kind of fish”)).

Phrases

  • Arctic whale terms derived from whale (noun)
  • baleen whale terms derived from whale (noun)
  • beached whale terms derived from whale (noun)
  • beaked whale terms derived from whale (noun)
  • belly of the whale terms derived from whale (noun)
  • beluga whale terms derived from whale (noun)
  • black whale terms derived from whale (noun)

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.