sperm whale

American  

noun

• sperm whales
  plural

1. a large, square-snouted whale, Physeter catodon, valued for its oil and spermaceti: now reduced in number and rare in some areas.

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sperm whale British  

noun

1. Also called: cachalot.  a large toothed whale, Physeter catodon, having a square-shaped head and hunted for sperm oil, spermaceti, and ambergris: family Physeteridae

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sperm whales
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sperm whale

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sperm whale

Like Herman Melville’s Pequod, the Mentor sought the sperm whale and its barrels of valuable oil.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

One of the most famous incidents involved the whaleship Essex, a 27m sailing vessel that was reportedly sunk by two direct strikes from a large bull sperm whale near the Galapagos in 1820.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 23, 2026

A sperm whale that was entangled in ropes has died after it became stranded on a shore of the island of Raasay.

From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2025

According to Hal Whitehead, who has pioneered research on social organization and cultural transmission in deep-water whales since the 1970s, researchers began studying sperm whale codas by comparing them to Morse code.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2024

It was an especially large type of whale called a sperm whale; from nose to tail it was as long as the Acorn itself.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood