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whale

1

[ weyl, hweyl ]

noun

plural whales, (especially collectively) whale.
  1. any of the larger marine mammals of the order Cetacea, especially as distinguished from the smaller dolphins and porpoises, having a fishlike body, forelimbs modified into flippers, and a head that is horizontally flattened.
  2. Informal. something big, great, or fine of its kind:

    I had a whale of a time in Europe.

    Programming this game turned out to be a whale of a project.

  3. Also called cryp·to whale [krip, -toh weyl, hweyl]. an investor who holds a large amount of cryptocurrency and is therefore able to create noticeable effects on the market, as by influencing prices through large transactions or by reducing the amount of available cryptocurrency through failure to move their holdings: Compare minnow ( def 5 ).

    The recent accumulation of this cryptocurrency by whales may indicate that they expect it to see significant gains in the near future.

  4. Whale, Astronomy. the constellation Cetus.


verb (used without object)

whaled, whaling.
  1. to engage in whaling or whale fishing.
  2. Digital Technology. to phish by posing as a company’s attorney, CEO, vendor, or other authorized entity in order to scam a payroll department, corporate executive, etc., out of money or confidential information: Compare spear phish.

    When she demonstrated her project, “How to Whale and Make Millions,†they didn’t know whether to award her or arrest her!

verb (used with object)

whaled, whaling.
  1. Digital Technology. to make (a company’s employee or department) a phishing victim by posing as an entity authorized to procure money or confidential information from the company:

    Before proving he had been whaled, the marketing VP was subjected to much scrutiny and suspicion.

whale

2

[ weyl, hweyl ]

verb

whaled, whaling,
  1. to hit, thrash, or beat soundly:

    Back then, if we misbehaved, Dad would threaten to whale us.

    We took advantage of the other team where they were weakest and whaled the stuffing out of them.

verb phrase

    1. to work vigorously and continuously at or on:

      It was cool to see this bunch of talented writers whaling away on their screenplay.

      I remember whaling at code over and over, pretty much at random, until I found something that sort of worked.

    2. to strike with furious and repeated blows:

      Satisfying as it was to whale on the punching bag, it did little to restore my emotional balance.

      In the last round, he pinned his opponent in the corner and was whaling away at him with both hands.

    3. to criticize vehemently:

      When hostile people are whaling on your ideas, it’s easy to feel humiliated and angry.

      Now all the political pundits are whaling away at the president for neglecting the military.

    4. to play (an instrument) with abandon:

      There was a jazz musician in the corner of the bar, whaling away at the piano.

      He and his band whaled on their instruments with their whole bodies—it was amazing!

whale

1

/ ·É±ðɪ±ô /

noun

  1. 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 cetacean
  2. any cetacean mammal See also toothed whale whalebone whale
  3. 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

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged†2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

whale

2

/ ·É±ðɪ±ô /

verb

  1. tr to beat or thrash soundly
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged†2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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˜yÐÄvlog History and Origins

Origin of whale1

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English ³ó·Éæ±ô; cognate with German Wal- in Walfisch, Old Norse hvalr; akin to Latin squalus, a kind of fish; 2005–10 whale 1fordefs 6, 7 (from the consideration of the victim as a “big fish/phishâ€)

Origin of whale2

First recorded in 1780–90; origin uncertain
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˜yÐÄvlog History and Origins

Origin of whale1

Old English ³ó·Éæ±ô; related to Old Saxon, Old High German hwal, Old Norse hvalr, Latin squalus seapig

Origin of whale2

C18: variant of wale 1
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“The whale did actually swim out, but then reversed and returned,†Milstein said.

From

In the centre of Murmansk, a giant inflatable whale has taken over one of the city's squares.

From

"We were troubled by sharks buffeting the raft and whales blowing close and showering us with water," he added.

From

The shallow water helps protect them from larger sharks and killer whales that would eat them with relish, like chewy hors d’oeuvres, if they drifted too far into the deep blue sea.

From

For example, sharks move their tails horizontally and whales move them vertically to swim, which will have an impact on how their bodies move throughout the water, he explained.

From

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