Baleen
[bə'liːn]
Definition
(n.) Plates or blades of "whalebone," from two to twelve feet long, and sometimes a foot wide, which in certain whales (Balaenoidea) are attached side by side along the upper jaw, and form a fringelike sieve by which the food is retained in the mouth.
Inputed by Addie
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Whalebone.
Checked by Jocelyn
Definition
n. the whalebone of commerce.
Typed by Joan
Examples
- The Greenland whale is one of the most wonderful animals in the world, and the baleen, or whalebone, one of its greatest peculiarities. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- In these several respects they resemble the plates of baleen in the mouth of a whale. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
Typed by Elinor