harpoon
UK /hɑːˈpuːn/ · US /hɑːɹˈpuːn/ noun, verb
Forms harpoons harpooning harpooned
- noun A spearlike weapon with a barbed head used in hunting whales and large fish.
- noun A sharp tip within a disposable syringe, used to penetrate the stopper.
- noun (slang) A harmonica.
- verb (transitive) To shoot something with a harpoon.
Etymology
From Old French harpon, from Latin harpaga, a variant of Latin harpagō, from Ancient Greek ἁρπάγη (harpágē, “hook”), from ἁρπάζω (harpázō, “to snatch away, to carry off, to seize, to captivate”). Sense and spelling perhaps influenced by Dutch harpoen (“harpoon”). Doublet of harpagon.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A spear or javelin used to strike and kill large fish, as whales; a harping iron. It consists of a long shank, with a broad, fiat, triangular head, sharpened at both edges, and is thrown by hand, or discharged from a gun. Harpoon fork, a kind of hayfork, consisting of bar with hinged barbs at one end a loop for a rope at the other end, used for lifting hay from the load by horse power.
- verb To strike, catch, or kill with a harpoon.
Etymology [F. harpon, LL. harpo, perh. of Ger. origin, fr. the harp; cf. F. harper to take and grasp strongly, harpe a dog's claw, harpin boathook (the sense of hook coming from the shape of the harp); but cf. also Gr. harpy. Cf. Harp.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “harpoon”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details