right whale

noun

large Arctic whalebone whale; allegedly the `right' whale to hunt because of its valuable whalebone and oil

• Hypernyms: ↑baleen whale, ↑whalebone whale

• Member Holonyms: ↑Balaenidae, ↑family Balaenidae

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noun

: a large whalebone whale of the family Balaenidae having no dorsal fin, the baleen very long, the head enormous and about one third the total length, the throat unfurrowed, and the small eye situated near the angle of the mouth: as

a. : greenland whale

b. : southern right whale

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any of several large whalebone whales of the genus Balaena, of circumpolar seas: the species B. glacialis is greatly reduced in numbers.

[1715-25; allegedly so called because it was the "right" whale to hunt, alluding to its relative buoyancy when killed, proximity to land, the value of its blubber, etc.]

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right whale noun

A whale of the genus Balaena or Eubalaena, esp the Greenland whale

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Main Entry: ↑right

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right whale,

any one of several whales from which whalebone and oil are obtained. Right whales have very large heads, a bonnet on the snout, and about 350 long, toothlike whalebones on each side of the mouth to sieve food from the water which they gulp.

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n. a baleen whale with a large head and a deeply curved jaw, of Arctic and temperate waters. ● Family Balaenidae: two genera and three species, in particular Balaena glacialis, which has distinctive patches of callosities on the snout. See also bowhead

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right whale, -whaleman etc.,

see whale, etc.