Adjacent Words

porpoise definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: any of several small gregarious cetacean mammals having a blunt snout and many teeth

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English porpoys, from Anglo-French porpeis, from Medieval Latin porcopiscis, from Latin porcus pig + piscis fish — more at farrow, fish Date: 14th century 1. any of a family (Phocoenidae) of small gregarious toothed whales; especially a blunt-snouted usually largely black whale (Phocoena phocoena) of the North Atlantic and North Pacific that is five to eight feet (1.5 to 2.4 meters) long 2. dolphin 1a(1) II. intransitive verb Date: 1909 1. to leap or plunge like a porpoise <penguins…porpoise out of the water — David Lewis> 2. to rise and fall repeatedly

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. any of various small toothed whales of the family Phocaenidae, esp. of the genus Phocaena, with a low triangular dorsal fin and a blunt rounded snout. Etymology: ME porpays etc. f. OF po(u)rpois etc. ult. f. L porcus pig + piscis fish

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Porpoise Por"poise, n. [OE. porpeys, OF. porpeis, literally, hog fish, from L. porcus swine + piscis fish. See Pork, and Fish.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) Any small cetacean of the genus Phoc[ae]na, especially P. communis, or P. phoc[ae]na, of Europe, and the closely allied American species (P. Americana). The color is dusky or blackish above, paler beneath. They are closely allied to the dolphins, but have a shorter snout. Called also harbor porpoise, herring hag, puffing pig, and snuffer. 2. (Zo["o]l.) A true dolphin (Delphinus); -- often so called by sailors. Skunk porpoise, or Bay porpoise (Zo["o]l.), a North American porpoise (Lagenorhynchus acutus), larger than the common species, and with broad stripes of white and yellow on the sides. See Illustration in Appendix.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(porpoises) A porpoise is a sea animal that looks like a large grey fish. Porpoises usually swim about in groups. N-COUNT

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

por'-pus (the Revised Version margin has "porpoise-skin" for `or tachash, the Revised Version (British and American) "sealskin," the King James Version "badgers' skins" (Ex 25:5; 26:14; 35:7,23; 36:19; 39:34; Nu 4:6,8,10,11,12,14,25; Eze 16:10)): The word denotes leather used in the furnishings of the tabernacle (for shoes in Eze 16:10), and was probably the skin of the dugong, Halichore dugong, Arabic tukhas, which is found in the Red Sea.

See BADGER.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. [Written also Porpess, Porpesse, Porpice, and Porpus.] Sea-hog. 2. Monster, mammoth, behemoth, mountain, leviathan, Triton among the minnows.

Moby Thesaurus

Loch Ness monster, alevin, benthon, benthos, cetacean, dolphin, fingerling, fish, fry, game fish, grilse, kipper, man-eater, man-eating shark, marine animal, minnow, minny, nekton, panfish, plankton, salmon, sea monster, sea pig, sea serpent, sea snake, shark, smolt, sponge, tropical fish, whale