harpoon
noun
har·poon här-ˈpün 
: a barbed spear or javelin used especially in hunting large fish or whales
harpoon transitive verb
harpooner noun
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The heavy creature then swam back to the boat where the group was able to pull it up on deck with a harpoon and gaffs. 
Brian Whipkey, USA TODAY, 23 July 2022 Austin said that Denmark, in particular, announced that it will send a harpoon launcher and missiles to help Ukraine defend its coast while the Czech Republic recently donated attack helicopters, tanks and rocket systems. Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 24 May 2022 Nearly 50 defense leaders from around the world met Monday and agreed to send more advanced weapons to Ukraine, including a harpoon launcher and missiles to protect its coast, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters. Lolita C. Baldor, BostonGlobe.com, 23 May 2022 Nearly 50 defense leaders from around the world met Monday and agreed to send more advanced weapons to Ukraine, including a harpoon launcher and missiles to protect its coast, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters. Lolita C. Baldor, Chicago Tribune, 23 May 2022 Nearly 50 defense leaders from around the world met Monday and agreed to send more advanced weapons to Ukraine, including a harpoon launcher and missiles to protect its coast, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters. Lolita C. Baldor, Anchorage Daily News, 23 May 2022 Goldsberry first built a harpoon gun, firing it by accident through his garage door and denting his car. Tim Zimmermann, Outside Online, 30 July 2010 Proof of their resilience came in 2007, when a bowhead caught off this same stretch of Alaskan coast was found to have a fragment of a Victorian harpoon embedded in its neck. Travel, 29 Dec. 2021 The effects are particularly nifty, and the underwater photography, including the climactic parachute-submersible-harpoon mêlée, is tremendous. Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2021 See More
Brian Whipkey, USA TODAY, 23 July 2022 Austin said that Denmark, in particular, announced that it will send a harpoon launcher and missiles to help Ukraine defend its coast while the Czech Republic recently donated attack helicopters, tanks and rocket systems. Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 24 May 2022 Nearly 50 defense leaders from around the world met Monday and agreed to send more advanced weapons to Ukraine, including a harpoon launcher and missiles to protect its coast, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters. Lolita C. Baldor, BostonGlobe.com, 23 May 2022 Nearly 50 defense leaders from around the world met Monday and agreed to send more advanced weapons to Ukraine, including a harpoon launcher and missiles to protect its coast, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters. Lolita C. Baldor, Chicago Tribune, 23 May 2022 Nearly 50 defense leaders from around the world met Monday and agreed to send more advanced weapons to Ukraine, including a harpoon launcher and missiles to protect its coast, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters. Lolita C. Baldor, Anchorage Daily News, 23 May 2022 Goldsberry first built a harpoon gun, firing it by accident through his garage door and denting his car. Tim Zimmermann, Outside Online, 30 July 2010 Proof of their resilience came in 2007, when a bowhead caught off this same stretch of Alaskan coast was found to have a fragment of a Victorian harpoon embedded in its neck. Travel, 29 Dec. 2021 The effects are particularly nifty, and the underwater photography, including the climactic parachute-submersible-harpoon mêlée, is tremendous. Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
probably from Dutch harpoen, from Middle Dutch, from Old French harpon brooch, from harper to grapple
First Known Use
1625, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
harpoon 1 of 2
noun
har·poon här-ˈpün
: a barbed spear used especially for hunting whales and large fish
harpoon
2 of 2verb
harpooned; harpooning
: to strike with a barbed spear
Medical Definition
harpoon
noun
har·poon här-ˈpün
: a medical instrument with a barbed head used for removing bits of living tissue for examination
harpoon 1 of 2
verb
as in to stab
to penetrate or hold (something) with a pointed object she deftly harpooned a shrimp with her skewer and held it over the fire Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- stab
- pierce
- puncture
- jab
- spear
- stick
- pick
- lance
- spit
- peck
- spike
- impale
- pink
- skewer
- gore
- poke
- punch
- transfix
- slice
- run through
- transpierce
- bayonet
- pike
- knife
- spindle
- quill
- dirk
- prong
- prick
- perforate
- riddle
- thrust
- poniard
- gimlet
- cut
- pinprick
harpoon
2 of 2noun
as in spear
Synonyms & Similar Words
- spear
- trident
- halberd
- leister
- lance
- halbert
- gaff
- javelin
- pike
- dart
- shaft
- spike
- pikestaff