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, whal·ing.

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, whal·ing.

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, whal·ing,

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. 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

/ weɪl /

verb

1. tr to beat or thrash soundly

whale

²

/ weɪl /

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of whale¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English hwæl; 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/phish”)

Origin of whale²

First recorded in 1780–90; origin uncertain

Word History and Origins

Origin of whale¹

C18: variant of wale ¹

Origin of whale²

Old English hwæl; related to Old Saxon, Old High German hwal, Old Norse hvalr, Latin squalus seapig

Example Sentences

Mr Hesten helped to remove the harness from the whale, which then swam to the nearby port of Hammerfest, where it lived for several months.

From BBC

He said he was most looking forward to enjoying his morning coffee overlooking the Antarctic landscape and "hopefully seeing a whale or two".

From BBC

It takes about 30 minutes if the weather allows it - the conditions are often choppy - and there tend to be whales nearby.

From BBC

Or there is the gentler whale swimming out of an underwater tunnel.

From BBC

He said he had a "whale of a time" growing up despite having little money, living in a local community which "looked after each other".

From BBC

Related Words

• mammal
• porpoise