whalebone
Americannoun
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Also called: baleen. a horny elastic material forming a series of numerous thin plates that hang from the upper jaw on either side of the palate in the toothless (whalebone) whales and strain plankton from water entering the mouth
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a thin strip of this substance, used in stiffening corsets, bodices, etc
Etymology
Origin of whalebone
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 cinched waist—the subtle negative drafts ahead of rear quarters—might as well have had whalebone stays.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 25, 2025
Between the sapphires and the whalebone corset she describes, one false breath or move could rip both the gown and her skin apart.
From Slate • May 4, 2023
Every day, on board the Pequod, Ishmael looks out for a glimpse of Ahab, with a peg leg made out of whalebone.
From The New Yorker • Jul. 22, 2019
They needed to shed their whalebone girdles and hoop-reinforced skirts in favour of something simpler and more comfortable.
From BBC • Apr. 29, 2019
Making the best of things, he took apart a walking stick made of whalebone discs threaded on a metal rod, and used those as poker chips.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
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.
