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right whale
noun
: any of several large baleen whales (family Balaenidae and especially genus Eubalaena) that lack a dorsal fin and have very long baleen plates, an extremely large head with a V-shaped blowhole, a smooth throat, short, broad, rounded flippers, and whitish protuberances of thickened skin about the head
Examples of right whale in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But blue whales, humpbacks, and fin whales are on the endangered list, and the Northern right whale is just about extinct – only about 350 of them are left on Earth.
—David Pogue, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2024
From coastal Virginia to Maine in the far northeast, the region has in fact witnessed unusual mortality among Atlantic Minke whales, Atlantic humpback whales and endangered North Atlantic right whales.
—Lindsey Leake, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2024
Pregnant female whales, accompanied by assorted other right whales, migrate along the Atlantic Coast each winter from Maine and Nova Scotia to the coast of Florida and Georgia for a calving season.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY, 20 Sep. 2024
This has a wide range of applications– one, according to Fielding, is making sure container ships don’t run into endangered right whales.
—Allison Beck, Forbes, 16 Aug. 2024
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Word History
First Known Use
1725, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near right whale
Cite this Entry
“Right whale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/right%20whale. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Kids Definition
right whale
noun
: a large baleen whale with no fin on the back, a very large head, and small eyes near the lower part of the mouth
More from Merriam-Webster on right whale
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about right whale
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