Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A baleen whale (Balaena mysticetus) of Arctic seas, having a large head, an arched upper jaw, and no dorsal fin.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A species of right whale; the polar right whale or Greenland whale, Balœna mysticetus. See also cut under whale.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) The great Arctic or Greenland whale. (Balæna mysticetus). See baleen, and whale.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A large whale, Balaena mysticetus, having a large, rounded head, that inhabits Arctic waters.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun large-mouthed Arctic whale

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The bowhead is a single species - closely related to the right whale - and is remarkable for being the only baleen whale to spend all its time in Arctic waters.

    BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition 2010

  • I serpose w'en he kaint get nary fish he do de same ez de 'bowhead' -- go er siftin eout dem little tings we calls whale-feed wiv dat ar 'rangement he carry in his mouf. "

    The Cruise of the Cachalot Round the World After Sperm Whales Frank T. Bullen 1886

  • These two ships were from New Bedford, and they had put into the little harbour to wood and water, and give their sea-worn crews a fortnight's rest ere they sailed northward away from the bright isles of the Pacific to the cold, wintry seas of the Siberian coast and the Kurile Islands, where they would cruise for "bowhead" whales, before returning home to

    The Call Of The South 1908 Louis Becke 1884

  • I examined microscopically and compared with the hair of fair and blue-eyed persons, the hair of negroes, and as a matter of curiosity with the reindeer hair and the hair-like appendage found on the fringy extremity of the baleen plates in the mouth of a "bowhead" whale.

    The First Landing on Wrangel Island With Some Remarks on the Northern Inhabitants 1871

  • Its ice-covered waters support bowhead whales, Pacific walruses, polar bears and other marine mammals found nowhere else in the nation.

    Marilyn Heiman: President Obama, Are We Really Ready To Drill Here? Marilyn Heiman 2011

  • People go on about the Inuit Whaling bowhead whales, this is another one of those traditional hunting activities that should be allowed to be carried on.

    On Canadian Seal Hunting 2009

  • Other examples from Alaska include a 2006 resolution passed in Kaktovik which called Shell Oil "a hostile and dangerous force" for its lack of respect to the community and its failure to work with villagers on the protection of bowhead whales; and a $400m public nuisance lawsuit against ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips and Peabody Energy filed by Kivalina, a community threatened by rising sea levels.

    Bianca Jagger: Now Is the Time to Move Beyond Petroleum Bianca Jagger 2010

  • People go on about the Inuit Whaling bowhead whales, this is another one of those traditional hunting activities that should be allowed to be carried on.

    On Canadian Seal Hunting 2009

  • Other examples from Alaska include a 2006 resolution passed in Kaktovik which called Shell Oil "a hostile and dangerous force" for its lack of respect to the community and its failure to work with villagers on the protection of bowhead whales; and a $400m public nuisance lawsuit against ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips and Peabody Energy filed by Kivalina, a community threatened by rising sea levels.

    Bianca Jagger: Now Is the Time to Move Beyond Petroleum Bianca Jagger 2010

  • Its ice-covered waters support bowhead whales, Pacific walruses, polar bears and other marine mammals found nowhere else in the nation.

    Marilyn Heiman: President Obama, Are We Really Ready To Drill Here? Marilyn Heiman 2011

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