WHALE

n. (pl. same or whales) any of the larger marine mammals of the order Cetacea, having a streamlined body and horizontal tail, and breathing through a blowhole on the head. øa whale of a colloq. an exceedingly good or fine etc. whale-oil oil from the blubber of whales. whale shark a large tropical whalelike shark, Rhincodon typus, feeding close to the surface. [OE hwól]