| 释义 |
whale
I. \ˈhwāl, esp before pause or consonant -āəl; also ˈwā-\ noun
(plural whale or whales)
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hwæl; akin to Old High German hwal whale, Old Norse hvalr, and probably to Latin squalus, a sea fish
1. : an aquatic mammal of the order Cetacea that superficially resembles a large fish and is valued commercially for whale oil, for the flesh which is used as human food and in animal feeds and fertilizers, and formerly for baleen; especially : one of the larger members of this group — compare dolphin, porpoise; see toothed whale, whalebone whale, zeuglodon
2.
a. : a person or thing with an extraordinary appetite or keenness
< a whale for work >
< the great ship — an insatiable whale that ate men and gold — James Dugan >
b. : a person or thing impressive in size or qualities or superlatively good of kind
< not impressed by the pronouncements of the scientific whales >
< a whale of a difference >
< a whale of a story >
— often used intensively in the phrase a whale of a
< borrowed a whale of a lot of money >
< a whale of a good time >
II. intransitive verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
: to engage in whale fishing
III. verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
Etymology: origin unknown
transitive verb
1. : lash, thrash
< whale a boy for lying >
2. : to strike or hit vigorously
< whale the ball for a home run >
3. : to bring by thrashing or striking
< whale the dust out of the carpets >
4. : to defeat soundly
< whaled their rivals 20 to 0 >
intransitive verb
: to perform an action with great vigor; especially : to make a vigorous attack on a person or thing — often used with away
< uses his daily column to whale away at his pet peeves >
IV.
variant of wale |