por|poise

por|poise
por|poise «PR puhs», noun, plural -pois|es or (collectively) -poise, verb, -poised, -pois|ing.
–n.
1. a sea animal with a blunt, rounded snout, that looks like a small whale. Porpoises are mammals, related to the whale, and live in groups in the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Porpoises eat fish. They are blackish in color with a somewhat paler belly. »

The porpoise is a superior animal with a sense of humor, curiosity, and imagination more highly developed than that of a dog (Atlantic).

2. any one of several other small sea mammals, especially the common dolphin or the bottle-nosed dolphin.
–v.i.
to move, travel, or dive in the manner of a porpoise; make a series of bumps or plunges: »

The Coroner asked…if it was usual for a machine…to porpoise when taking off on a perfectly smooth sea (London Times).

╂[< Old French porpeis, also porpois, ultimately < Latin porcus hog + piscis fish]

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • por·poise — …   Useful english dictionary

  • poise — cen·ti·poise; mil·li·poise; un·poise; coun·ter·poise; eq·ui·poise; poise; por·poise; …   English syllables

  • por — ag·a·por·nis; ap·por·tion; ap·por·tion·ment; as·por·ta·tion; cel·le·por·i·dae; col·por·tage; col·por·teur; cor·por·i·fy; cryp·to·por·ti·cus; de·por·ta·tion; di·a·por·tha·ce·ae; di·a·por·the; dis·pro·por·tion·a·tion; ex·por·ta·tion;… …   English syllables

  • poise — (Del fr. poise, y este de J. L. M. Poiseuille, 1799 1869, médico y físico francés). m. Fís. Unidad de viscosidad del Sistema Cegesimal, equivalente a la viscosidad de un fluido en el cual el gradiente de velocidad, sometido a un esfuerzo… …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • poise — (De Poiseuille, físico y médico francés.) ► sustantivo masculino FÍSICA Unidad de medida de la viscosidad dinámica. * * * poise. (Del fr. poise, y este de J. L. M. Poiseuille, 1799 1869, médico y físico francés). m. Fís …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • porpoise — por·poise …   English syllables

  • porpoise — por•poise [[t]ˈpɔr pəs[/t]] n. pl. (esp. collectively) poise, (esp. for kinds or species) pois•es 1) mam any of certain toothed cetaceans of the family Delphinidae having a blunt, rounded snout, esp. of the genus Phocoena, as the common porpoise …   From formal English to slang

  • porpoise — por|poise [ˈpo:pəs US ˈpo:r ] n [Date: 1300 1400; : Old French; Origin: porpois, from Medieval Latin porcopiscis, from Latin porcus ( PORK) + piscis fish ] a sea animal that looks similar to a ↑dolphin and breathes air …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • porpoise — por|poise [ pɔrpəs ] noun count a large ocean animal, similar to a DOLPHIN, that comes to the surface to breathe air …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Bay porpoise — 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 {Phoc[ae]na communis}, or {Phoc[ae]na… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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