white-waterv.
/ˈwʌɪtˌwɔːtə/, U.S. /ˈ(h)waɪtˌwɔdər/, /ˈ(h)waɪtˌwɑdər/ Nautical colloquial. Somewhat rare.
intransitive. Of a whale: to splash with the tail so as to make the water white with foam.
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the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > [verb (intransitive)] > miscellaneous actions of whale
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1856 C. Nordhoff Whaling & Fishing xii. 224 The mate, who was at the main royal masthead, sang out lustily, ‘There she whitewaters.’
1897 F. T. Bullen Cruise ‘Cachalot’ (1899) xiv. 170 There she white-waters! Ah blo-o-o-o-w!
1922 W. J. Hopkins She Blows! xxv. 246 The hail came down from aloft: ‘There she breaches! And white waters!’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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