porpoise
Americannoun
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any of several small, gregarious cetacean mammals of the genus Phocoena, usually blackish above and paler beneath, and having a blunt, rounded snout, especially the common porpoise, P. phocoena, of both the North Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
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any of several small cetacean mammals, as the common dolphin, Delphinus delphis.
verb (used without object)
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(of a speeding motorboat) to leap clear of the water after striking a wave.
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(of a torpedo) to appear above the surface of the water.
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to move forward with a rising and falling motion in the manner of a porpoise.
The car has a tendency to porpoise when overloaded.
noun
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any of various small cetacean mammals of the genus Phocaena and related genera, having a blunt snout and many teeth: family Delphinidae (or Phocaenidae )
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(not in technical use) any of various related cetaceans, esp the dolphin
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of porpoise
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English porpoys, from Middle French porpois, from unattested Vulgar Latin porcopiscis “hog fish,” for Latin porcus marīnus “sea hog”
Explanation
Porpoises are ocean mammals that are very similar to dolphins. Most porpoises prefer cold Northern waters and stay close to the shore. Like their close relatives, dolphins and orcas, porpoises are toothed whales, descendants of hoofed land animals like the hippopotamus. It's not always easy to tell a porpoise from a dolphin, but they have shorter noses, smaller mouths, and differently shaped teeth. They're also not quite as chatty as dolphins, and don't make dolpins' distinctive whistling sound. They're just as intelligent, though.
Vocabulary lists containing porpoise
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.
See Examples For:
The specimen was donated to the museum in 1966 and has now become the basis for an exceptionally detailed digital record of the rare porpoise.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 17, 2026
"We've always found it tricky to understand how grey seals would kill a healthy dolphin or porpoise," Langley said.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2026
Not only that, but over the last five years of records, porpoise numbers have gone up by nearly a quarter.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2025
"We're saving the finless porpoise to save the Yangtze River," says Wang Ding.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2025
The second was a girl aboard a Caribbean cruise ship in 1939, who threw her cigarette lighter at a porpoise.
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
A recent report by Wildlife and Countryside Link found thousands of protected seabirds, more than 1,000 porpoises and dolphins, and dozens of whales were dying through bycatch each year.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
Common dolphins and harbour porpoises are among the species most frequently affected by stranding, largely because they are more abundant in coastal waters, according to the BDMLR.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026
Their diet centered on smaller marine mammals including harbor seals and harbor porpoises, and they usually traveled and foraged in groups of about five.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 20, 2025
Other North Atlantic cetaceans, including harbor porpoises and bottlenose dolphins, may be facing similar pressures.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2025
During the night two porpoises came around the boat and he could hear them rolling and blowing.
From "The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway
For nearly four hours, first in great confusion and then heartrending resignation, the saga played out on CNN as the Learjet porpoised through the air.
From Golf Digest ● Oct. 25, 2018
Blue-wing olives swarmed over the water, and beneath them, pods of big rainbow trout porpoised all around me, their noses and backs and tails breaking the surface while they fed.
From Time Magazine Archive
When he porpoised back he predicted: "I'll flatten dat bum wit' one punch."
From Time Magazine Archive
With wheels up, Moskva porpoised off a knoll, slammed down on her belly just beyond.
From Time Magazine Archive
Gentoo penguins porpoised along beside the boat as they raised the sail and plunged forward into the rolling waves.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
McLaren team chief Andrea Stella explained that the disqualification of both cars, for excessive wear of the skid blocks, was a result of an unexpected level of "porpoising... exacerbated by the conditions" in Nevada.
From Barron's ● Nov. 27, 2025
Inevitably, some will make the connection between the fact that the car was too low, and the return of what McLaren called "unexpected" porpoising - ie, was one a consequence of the other?
From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2025
Over the past few years, as a consequence of the rule change and improved understanding of the current cars by teams, porpoising has become pretty rare.
From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2025
Mercedes struggled with the ground effect known as “ porpoising ” and Russell was fourth in the 2022 standings, Hamilton was sixth.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 16, 2023
And—the layman may note it—with expert men at the periscope and diving-rudder, a porpoising sub can sight, discharge her torpedo, and dive—all within five seconds.
From The U-boat hunters by Connolly, James B. (James Brendan)
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.
