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dorsal fin

American

noun

the fin or finlike integumentary expansion generally developed on the back of aquatic vertebrates.

dorsal fin British

noun

any unpaired median fin on the backs of fishes and some other aquatic vertebrates: maintains balance during locomotion

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of dorsal fin

First recorded in 1760–70

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:

dorsal fin

They primarily rely on their dorsal fin, whereas strong swimmers use their caudal fin or back tail, Paig-Tran said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2024

“I never thought I’d be holding the dorsal fin of a great white shark and applying this type of technology,” Michalove said.

From Seattle Times ● May 23, 2024

According to the New England Aquarium, gray whales are easy to spot due to their lack of a dorsal fin, as well as their mottled grey and white skin.

From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2024

What they spotted, a whale without a dorsal fin, led the researchers to think that it might be a North Atlantic right whale, a critically endangered species that the aquarium has been closely monitoring.

From New York Times ● Mar. 6, 2024

Nereus spun and expanded, turning into a killer whale, but I grabbed his dorsal fin as he burst out of the water.

From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023