whales

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of whale.

   Several whales surfaced near the fishing fleet at dawn.

   Migrating whales travel thousands of miles between feeding and breeding grounds.

   Note

   A regular plural, made with a plain -s, and it carries every sense of the singular. Besides the animals themselves, it covers the figurative big players: gamblers who routinely wager large sums, and investors who handle very large amounts of money. The same spelling is also the present tense of the verb. When an object follows it, as in he whales the bag, you are reading the verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of whale.

   The coach whales the heavy bag to show his fighters proper form.

   Whenever the chorus hits, the drummer whales on the cymbals.

   Note

   Two quite different verbs share this present-tense form. One is the trade of hunting whales, and it takes no object: a ship whales in northern waters. The other is slang for thrashing or beating something soundly, and it needs a target, either a direct object or on before it. Keep the slang verb for casual speech. In careful writing, beats or pounds says the same thing.

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