ba·leen

(bə-lēn′)

[Middle English balene, from Old French baleine, from Latin balaena, whale, from Greek phallaina, phalaina; see bhel- in Indo-European roots.]

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.

baleen

(bəˈliːn)

(Zoology) whalebone

[C14: from Latin bālaena whale; related to Greek phalaina whale]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

whale•bone

(ˈʰweɪlˌboʊn, ˈweɪl-)

n.

1. Also called baleen. an elastic, horny substance hanging in fringed platelike sheets from the upper jaws of whalebone whales and serving to strain plankton.

2. something made of this substance, as corset stays.

[1175–1225]

ba·leen

(bə-lēn′)

A flexible horny substance hanging in plates from the upper jaw of certain whales. It is used by the whales to strain plankton from seawater when feeding. Also called whalebone.

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.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

baleen - a horny material from the upper jaws of certain whales; used as the ribs of fans or as stays in corsets

whalebone

horn - the material (mostly keratin) that covers the horns of ungulates and forms hooves and claws and nails

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

It yields the article commonly known as whalebone or baleen; and the oil specially known as whale oil, an inferior article in commerce.

In connexion with this appellative of Whalebone whales , it is of great importance to mention, that however such a nomenclature may be convenient in facilitating allusions to some kind of whales, yet it is in vain to attempt a clear classification of the Leviathan, founded upon either his baleen, or hump, or fin, or teeth; notwithstanding that those marked parts or features very obviously seem better adapted to afford the basis for a regular system of Cetology than any other detached bodily distinctions, which the whale, in his kinds, presents.

He has baleen. He is the most gamesome and light-hearted of all the whales, making more gay foam and white water generally than any other of them.

View in context

Baleen whales that swim thousands of miles while holding a rock-steady course and birds that can locate their nests on a tiny island after crisscrossing an entire ocean.

What We Are Reading Today: Incredible Journeys by David Barrie

Minke are the secondsmallest type of mysticete - or baleen - whales in the world and filter-feed on small fish, krill and more.

Dead minke whale found tangled in fishing gear; Drowned: Creel lines snag mammal

Luckily, they have baleen plates, which they use to solve this problem."

A Book About Whales

The Bryde's whale, scientifically known as Balaenoptera edeni, is among the three rorqual or baleen whales found in Pakistani waters.

Whale found dead on Gwadar coast, cause of death unknown

He said that it seemed that the whale had collided with a ship and was fatally injured.The Bryde's whale, scientifically known as Balaenoptera edeni, is among the three rorqual or baleen whales found in Pakistani waters.

Whale's carcass found on Gwadar coast

"Leopard Skin" from Jean Paul Gaultier's 1997 gown crafted with beadwork that took 1,000 hours to create Whalebone the colloquial name for baleen, which is cut from the upper jaw of the baleen whale was used to stiffen and shape garments and to make accessories.

Fashion's love affair with nature: It's complicated

"It wouldn't be uncommon to see a minke circling a vessel, while swimming and rolling friendly of the baleen whales."

Minke whale spotted off North Wales coast; FISHERMAN CAPTURES FOOTAGE OF DRAMATIC CLOSE-UP ENCOUNTER

It was not the parade of evolutionary transformations and innovations to their bodies (the refashioning of forelegs into flippers or the appearance in some species of baleen, for feeding, for example) that made them big.

Wrap your mind around a whale

Pygmy blue whales have a larger head, shorter tail, and shorter baleen plates, and can live up to 70-90 years.

First sighting of blue whale in Red Sea