Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A whale.
- noun The sea-bream.
- noun Whalebone in its natural state: a name given by whale-fishers.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl. & Com.) Plates or blades of “whalebone,” from two to twelve feet long, and sometimes a foot wide, which in certain whales (
Balænoidea ) are attached side by side along the upper jaw, and form a fringelike sieve by which the food is retained in the mouth.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun physiology, uncountable The
plates in themouth of thebaleen whale ,Mysticeti , which it uses to trap its food; formerly used incorsetry - noun zoology, countable a
baleen whale
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a horny material from the upper jaws of certain whales; used as the ribs of fans or as stays in corsets
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The fact that the krill are strained out of the water by the baleen is a matter of processing - it comes after the whale has taken a bite.
Archive 2006-10-01 Darren Naish 2006
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The fact that the krill are strained out of the water by the baleen is a matter of processing - it comes after the whale has taken a bite.
Lunging is expensive, jaws can be noisy, and what’s with the asymmetry? Rorquals part III Darren Naish 2006
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We do know that its baleen is particularly fine, allowing it to filter the comparatively small copepods [adjacent photo, also from the Right Whale Aerial Surveys site, shows a feeding sei.
Lunging is expensive, jaws can be noisy, and what’s with the asymmetry? Rorquals part III Darren Naish 2006
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We do know that its baleen is particularly fine, allowing it to filter the comparatively small copepods [adjacent photo, also from the Right Whale Aerial Surveys site, shows a feeding sei.
Archive 2006-10-01 Darren Naish 2006
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The baleen is a horny material on the upper jaws of some whales.
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The baleen is a horny material on the upper jaws of some whales.
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Many modern whale species use hair-like structures called baleen to filter tiny prey such as krill from seawater.
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I need to use the word "baleen" in a sentence today.
Wired Campus 2010
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I need to use the word "baleen" in a sentence today.
Wired Campus 2010
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I need to use the word "baleen" in a sentence today.
Wired Campus 2010
bilby commented on the word baleen
"There is armour made from whale baleen. Many of the graves also contain flat stones, which presumably have some kind of ceremonial purpose.
...
Researchers can also call on human memory and lore, because Nuvuk retained human inhabitants until about 60 years ago."
- 'Bodies Point To Alaska's Past', Richard Black, BBC website 31 Dec 2007
January 1, 2008