whale
Listen:Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
whale1
▶noun (pl. same or whales) a very large marine mammal with a horizontal tail fin and a blowhole on top of the head for breathing. [Order Cetacea.]
– phrases
a whale of a —— informal an exceedingly good example of a particular thing.
have a whale of a time informal enjoy oneself very much.
a whale of a —— informal an exceedingly good example of a particular thing.
have a whale of a time informal enjoy oneself very much.
– origin OE hwæl, of Gmc origin.
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
whale2
▶verb informal, chiefly N. Amer. beat; hit.
'whale' also found in these Oxford entries:
ambergris
- baleen
- baleen whale
- beach
- beaked whale
- beluga
- blow
- blowhole
- blue whale
- bottlenose whale
- bowhead whale
- bull
- cachalot
- cetacean
- cetane
- cow
- dolphin
- dorsal fin
- drogue
- finback
- fin whale
- flense
- fluke
- grampus
- gurry
- humpback whale
- junk
- killer whale
- leviathan
- minke
- muktuk
- narwhal
- orca
- pilot whale
- porpoise
- right whale
- rorqual
- scarf
- sei
- sei whale
- sound
- speck
- spermaceti
- sperm oil
- sperm whale
- tar
- toothed whale
- train oil
- walrus
