whalebone en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
Etymology
From whale + bone.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) The horny material from the fringed plates of the upper jaw of baleen whales that is used to filter plankton; once used as stays in corsets
“You have probably never seen anything like this before, Mr. Toler. It is baleen, or if you prefer it, whalebone, taken from the mouth of the bowhead whale. It is used by the whale to filter its food.”
1954, Alexander Alderson, chapter 5, in The Subtle Minotaur:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| whalebones | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
whaleboned · whittle the whalebone · whalebone whale · whaleboning
Synonyms
Translations (11)
fr fanon (horny material from fringed plates of upper jaw of baleen whale) · it fanone (horny material from fringed plates of upper jaw of baleen whale) · pl fiszbin (horny material from fringed plates of upper jaw of baleen whale) · bg балена (horny material from fringed plates of upper jaw of baleen whale) · ru кито́вый ус (horny material from fringed plates of upper jaw of baleen whale) · es ballena (horny material from fringed plates of upper jaw of baleen whale) · eo balenosto (horny material from fringed plates of upper jaw of baleen whale) · io barto (horny material from fringed plates of upper jaw of baleen whale) · gl balea (horny material from fringed plates of upper jaw of baleen whale) · de Fischbein (horny material from fringed plates of upper jaw of baleen whale) · nl balein (horny material from fringed plates of upper jaw of baleen whale)