# whale

Pronunciation: say "WAYL" /weɪl/

## Noun

1. A marine mammal of the group Cetacea, especially one of the large species, though the term can also include dolphins and porpoises.
   - Simple: A sea mammal, usually a very large one, but sometimes including dolphins and porpoises.
   - _A blue whale is the largest animal ever known to have lived._
   - _Whales surface regularly to breathe air through their blowholes._
3. Something or someone regarded as remarkably large, impressive, or excellent, especially in the phrase 'a whale of a …'.
   - Simple: Something very big or very good, often in 'a whale of a…', as in 'a whale of a time'.
   - _The moving crew struggled to carry a whale of a sofa up the narrow stairs._
   - _Her report grew into a whale of a document, running to hundreds of pages._
4. An investor who trades or controls very large sums of money. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: An investor who moves very large amounts of money.
   - _A crypto whale shifted millions into the token overnight, sending its price soaring._
   - _Small traders watch the whales for clues about where the market is heading._
5. A person who gambles or spends unusually large sums of money, such as a high-stakes casino gambler or a very big-spending customer.
   - Simple: A person who bets or spends a huge amount of money, for example in a casino or a game.
   - _The casino flew the whale in by private jet and comped his entire stay._
   - _A single whale can account for much of a casino's profit in one weekend._
6. A derogatory term for an overweight person, usually a woman. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A rude word for a person seen as very overweight, usually a woman.
   - _He muttered something about the whale slumped in the corner booth._
   - _She overheard them call her a whale and left the party in tears._

## Verb

2. To go out hunting for whales.
   - Simple: To go out and hunt whales at sea.
   - _Crews would set out to whale in Arctic waters for months at a time._
   - _Their families had whaled off these shores for generations._
7. To beat or thrash someone or something hard and repeatedly. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To hit someone or something hard, again and again.
   - _Out in the yard, he whaled away at the dusty rug with an old broom._
   - _The birthday girl grabbed the stick, ready to whale on the piñata until candy spilled out._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–6** — From Middle English whal, from Old English hwæl ("whale"), going back through Proto-Germanic *hwalaz (compare German Wal and Swedish val) to Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷálos ("sheatfish"), possibly also seen in Latin squalus ("big sea fish").
**Meaning 7** — No one is sure where it comes from. It may be a form of wale shaped by words such as whack and whap.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/whale (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).