sperm whale
noun
Forms sperm whales
- noun A whale, Physeter macrocephalus, the largest of the toothed whales.
- noun Any whale in the superfamily Physeteroidea, which also includes the small whales of genus Kogia.
Synonyms
cachalot common cachalot spermaceti whale black whale Physeter catodon
Etymology
A clipping of spermaceti whale.
Webster’s 1913
- A very large toothed whale (Physeter macrocephalus), having a head of enormous size. The upper jaw is destitute of teeth. In the upper part of the head, above the skull, there is a large cavity, or case, filled with oil and spermaceti. This whale sometimes grows to the length of more than eighty feet. It is found in the warmer parts of all the oceans. Called also cachalot, and spermaceti whale. Pygmy sperm whale (Zoöl.), a small whale (Kogia breviceps), seldom twenty feet long, native of tropical seas, but occasionally found on the American coast. Called also snub-nosed cachalot.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sperm whale”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details