单词 | white whale |
释义 | > as lemmaswhite whale white whale n. (a) the beluga whale, Delphinapterus leucas, the adults of which are typically pure white in colour; (in later use also) any whale of the family Monodontidae; (b) [with reference to the white sperm whale hunted by Captain Ahab in Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick (1851)] an objective earnestly or relentlessly pursued; (the object of) an obsession; also as great white whale. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > suborder Odontoceti > [noun] > family Monodontidae > genus Delphinapterus (white whale) beluga1605 white whale1635 whitefish1792 porpoise1841 sea-canary1879 1635 L. Foxe North-west Fox sig. Bb4v The tyde set S. and by N. and here we see white Whales. 1744 A. Dobbs Acct. Countries adjoining Hudson's Bay 17 Shot a white Whale, and got a Barrel of Oil from it. 1871 S. F. Baird in C. H. Davis Narr. N. Polar Exped. (U.S. Naval Observatory) (1876) 653 [Specimens of] the Phoca cristata, the white whale (Beluga), and the Monodon are particularly desired. 1931 T. Smith Turnabout i. 15 There she blew, the future, the taunting white whale. 1969 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 24 Apr. 35/3 The race is Andy's obsession, his White Whale. He may never win it, but he will never stop trying. 1980 G. Corbet & D. Ovenden Mammals Brit. & Europe 212 White whales: family Monodontidae. The White whale and the Narwhal are the only members of this family. 1992 Winnipeg Free Press 29 Dec. b4/1 After an epic 14-year hunt, scientists think they may have harpooned the Great White Whale of physics:..the top quark. 2011 Jrnl. Exper. Marine Biol. & Ecol. 407 82/1 Lammers and Castellote have also collected indirect evidence that the white whale (Delphinapterus leucas) produces sounds from two click generators. < as lemmas |
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