1. 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.
Phrases and idioms:
a 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.
Etymology: OE hw{aelig}l 2. v.tr. esp. US colloq. beat, thrash.
Etymology: var. of WALE