Whale

Pronunciation

• enPR: wāl, IPA: /weɪl/
• Rhymes: -eɪl
• Homophones: wail in accents with the wine-whine merger

Origin

From Middle English whale, from Old English hwæl, from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz (compare German Wal, Low German Waal, Danish hval; cf. also Dutch walvis, West Frisian walfisk, Low German Waalfisch), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷálos 'sheatfish' (compare German Wels, Latin squalus ("big sea fish"), Old Prussian kalis, Ancient Greek ἄσπαλος, Avestan 𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬐 (kara, "kind of fish")).

Full definition of whale

Noun

1. Any of several species of large sea mammals of the order Cetacea.
• 2013-08-03, Yesterday’s fuel, The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania....It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber.
2. (figuratively) Something, or someone, that is very large.
• 1920 September, “A Reformed Free Lance” (pseudonym), “Doctoring a Sick Encyclopedia”, in The Writer, Volume XXXII, Number 9, page 131:It was a whale of a job. ... It took two months, and the fair blush of youth off my cheeks.
• 1947 May 19, John Chamberlain, “Will Clayton and his Problem”, in Life (magazine), page 120:But when it comes to his business life and business career, William L. Clayton is not as other men; he is such a whale of a lot better that it suggests a qualitative as well as a quantitative difference.
3. (gambling) (In a casino) a person who routinely bets at the maximum limit allowable.
• 2003, Jeff Wuorio, How to Buy and Sell (Just About) Everything,These are often no-limit games as maximum bets cramp a whale’s style.
• 2004, Norm Clarke, Vegas Confidential: Norm! Sin City's Ace Insider 1,000 Naked Truths, Hot Spots and Cool Stuff,A handful of the richest whales routinely play for $200,000 a hand. Australian media mogul Kerry Packer not only regularly bets that much, but has plunked down $200,000 bets for the dealer as a form of a tip.
• 2008, Deke Castleman, Whale Hunt in the Desert,The high roller who had the most ferocious reputation for trying to run the business of the casinos where he played, before he died on December 26, 2006, was Kerry Packer. In the casino world, Packer was the Prince of Whales.

Derived terms

Verb

1. (intransitive) To hunt for whales.
2. (transitive) To flog, to beat.

Anagrams

• wheal