whaling

[ hwey-ling, wey- ]
See synonyms for whaling on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the work or industry of capturing and rendering whales; whale fishing.

  2. Digital Technology. a phishing attempt by someone posing as a company’s attorney, CEO, vendor, or other authorized entity in order to scam a payroll department, corporate executive, etc., out of money or confidential information: The source of the whaling gave all appearances of legitimacy and trustworthiness.

Origin of whaling

1
whale1 + -ing1;def. 1 was first recorded in 1680–90; def. 2 in 2010–15 (in the sense “hunting for a big fish/phish”)

Other words from whaling

  • an·ti·whal·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for whaling

whaling

/ (ˈweɪlɪŋ) /


noun
  1. the work or industry of hunting and processing whales for food, oil, etc

adverb
  1. informal (intensifier): a whaling good time

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