Whalebone
['weɪlbəʊn] or ['welbon]
Definition
(noun.) a horny material from the upper jaws of certain whales; used as the ribs of fans or as stays in corsets.
Checked by Annabelle--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A firm, elastic substance resembling horn, taken from the upper jaw of the right whale; baleen. It is used as a stiffening in stays, fans, screens, and for various other purposes. See Baleen.
Checked by Ernest
Unserious Contents or Definition
To see or work with whalebone in your dreams, you still form an alliance which will afford you solid benefit.
Edited by Lester
Examples
- Trifling variations in the ingredients, in the proportion and in the heating, made it either pliable as kid, tougher than ox hide, as elastic as whalebone, or as rigid as flint. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The quality of the whalebone also differs in the different species. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- 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.
- Mrs. Harden, be it observed, was the housekeeper: a woman after Mr. Brocklehurst's own heart, made up of equal parts of whalebone and iron. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
Checked by Leda