Ahab
Americannoun
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Bible. a king of Israel and husband of Jezebel, reigned 874?–853? b.c. null Achab
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Literature. the captain of the ship Pequod and tragic hero of Melville's Moby Dick, obsessed with the pursuit of the white whale.
noun
Etymology
Origin of Ahab
From Hebrew Aḥʾābh, probably “father's brother”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The perspective angles skyward in the picture of a frenzied-looking Ahab displaying the gold doubloon he has promised to the man who can kill Moby-Dick.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026
He was a favorite punching bag of the mainstream media, a slovenly suburban Ahab doomed to fail.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 17, 2025
“And she’s Captain Ahab and she wants to get the big whale. She ain’t gonna get the big whale. She’ll go down. The big whale will laugh at her.”
From Washington Times • Jun. 14, 2023
He's Ahab attacking the whale or Khan stabbing at Captain Kirk "for hate's sake."
From Salon • Apr. 13, 2023
“Don’t start beating me up, Captain Ahab, I’m just joking,” I said, laughing.
From "Where Things Come Back" by John Corey Whaley
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
