whale

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

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	whale - a very large person; impressive in size or qualities hulk, giant, heavyweight large 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

noun

Related words
adjective cetacean
male bull
female cow
young calf
collective nouns school, gam, run

Whales 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 whale

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

حوتحُوت

velryba

hval

Wal

φάλαινα

ballena

valas

baleine

kit

bálna

hvalur

balenacaccia alla balenadivertirsi un sacco

クジラ

고래

banginio taukaibanginio ūsasbanginisdalginis delfinas

valis

walvis

hval

wieloryb

baleia

кит

veľryba

kit

val

ปลาวาฬ

balina

cá voi

鲸

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

B. CPD whale oil N → aceite m de ballena

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

[ˈ^hweɪl] 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

whale fishing

n → Wal(fisch)fang m

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

whale

[weɪl] n (Zool) → balena
we had a whale of a time (fam) → ci siamo divertiti da matti

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

whale

(weil) noun

a type of very large mammal that lives in the sea. walvis حوت кит baleia velryba der Wal hval φάλαιναballena vaal وال valas baleine לִוויָתָן समुद्र में रहने वाला अत्यंत विशाल स्तनधारी प्राणी, ह्वेल kit bálna paus hvalur balena 鯨 고래 banginis valis ikan paus walvishvalwieloryb baleia balenă кит veľryba kit kit val ปลาวาฬ balina 鯨 кит وہیل cá voi 鲸

killer whale noun

a black and white whale. moordvis الحوت الأبيَض والأسْوَد косатка baleia assassina kosatka der Killerwal dræberhval όρκα, φάλαινα-δολοφόνος orca tapjavaal وال کشنده miekkavalas épaulard לִוויָתָן काला एवं सफेद ह्वेल kit ubojica kardszárnyú delfin ikan paus pembunuh balena しゃち 범고래 dalginis delfinas plēsoņdelfīns hitam dan putih ikan paus orka, zwaardwalvis spekkhoggerorkaкосатка kosatka dravá kit orka kit ubica späckhuggare ปลาวาฬเพชรฆาต katil balina 逆戟鯨, 虎鯨，殺人鯨 дельфін-косатка ایک قسم کی کالی اور سفید وہیل cá heo 逆戟鲸，虎鲸

ˈwhalebone noun, adjective

(of) a light bendable substance got from the upper jaw of certain whales. walvisbeen مادَّة قَرْنِيَّه تَنْمو في الفَك عند الحيتان китова кост osso de baleia velrybí kostice das Fischbein barde μπανέλα barba de ballena vaalakius استخوان ارواره نهنگ valaanluu fanon de baleine עֶצֶם לִוויָתָן कुछ ह्वेल क ऊपरी जबड़े से मिलने वाला एक पदार्थ kitova kost halcsont tulang paus hvalskíði fanone, osso di balena 鯨のひげ 고래수염 banginio ūsas vaļa bārda tulang, insang paus baleinhvalbarde fiszbin osso de baleia fanon; os de balenă китовый ус veľrybia kostica ribja kost kitova kost valbard วัตถุแข็งที่ได้จากปากของปลาวาฬบางชนิด balina, balena 鯨鬚 китовий вус وہیل کی ہڈی phiến sừng ở hàm cá voi 鲸须

whale oil

oil obtained from the fatty parts of a whale. walvisolie زَيْت الحوت китова мас óleo de baleia velrybí tuk der Walfischtran hvalolie λάδι φάλαινας aceite de ballena traan روغن وال valaanrasva huile de baleine שֶׁמֶן לִוויָתָן ह्वेल का तेल kitovo ulje bálnazsír minyak ikan hvallÿsi olio di balena 鯨油 고래 기름 banginio taukai vaļa tauki minyak ikan paus walvistraan hvalolje tran óleo de baleia ulei de balenă ворвань veľrybí tuk kitovo olje kitovo ulje valolja น้ำมันที่ได้จากไขมันของปลาวาฬ balina yağı 鯨油 ворвань, китовий жир وہیل کا تیل dầu cá voi 鲸油

have a whale of a time

to enjoy oneself very much. geniet iets baie يَقْضي وَقتا مُمْتِعا جِدا изпитвам голямо удоволствие от divertir-se muito báječně se bavit sich köstlich amüsieren have det skægt διασκεδάζω με την ψυχή μου pasarlo pipa, pasarlo en grande lõbutsema از یکی زیاد لذت بردن pitää todella hauskaa s'amuser énormément תְבָלֵה הֵיטֵב खुब मजे लेना uživati kao nikad remekül szórakozik bersenang-senang skemmta sér konunglega (divertirsi molto) 楽しい思いをする 즐기다 linksmintis brīnišķīgi pavadīt laiku berseronok; bersuka ria zich vreselijk goed vermaken ha det kjempemoro wspaniale się bawić divertir-se muito a se amuza la culme замечательно провести время výborne sa zabávať blazno se zabavati uživati ha jättekul มีช่วงเวลาแห่งความตื่นเต้นยินดี çok eğlenmek 玩得非常愉快 чудово проводити час اپنے آپ میں مگن رہنا giải trí 玩得痛快

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