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
A viewing gallery will show everything from penguin health checks to ultrasounds on pregnant aardvarks and even porpoise post-mortems - things never before seen publicly in the UK.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
He notified the local authorities, who shut down that section of river to all shipping until it could be rescued – and it turned out the soon-to-be freed porpoise was pregnant.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2025
The construction of the main part of Three Gorges Dam in 2006 didn't directly impact the finless porpoise, which don't have to go upstream to spawn, although it did affect the fish they eat.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2025
"Did he really and truly turn into a porpoise?"
From "The Witches" by Roald Dahl
At roughly 5 feet long, it is the smallest member of the cetacean group, which includes whales, dolphins and porpoises.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 17, 2026
The devices produce sounds audible only to porpoises and dolphins, which can deter them from approaching fishing nets.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 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
"But now there is evidence from both direct observations and also from strandings data, that it also occurs between grey seals and harbour porpoises, and common dolphins," said Langley.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2026
It was bad enough they drowned porpoises and dolphins, but they also occasionally caught mythological animals.
From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan
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
With wheels up, Moskva porpoised off a knoll, slammed down on her belly just beyond.
From Time Magazine Archive
When he porpoised back he predicted: "I'll flatten dat bum wit' one punch."
From Time Magazine Archive
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
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
Stella said: "Unfortunately, we also saw that, because of the car operating window and the circuit characteristics, most of these actions were not effective enough in reducing porpoising."
From BBC ● Nov. 27, 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
“I think porpoising is not a topic anymore,” he said.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 2023
When they stay up it is easy enough, but when they are porpoising, shooting it up for just a look around, you have to be looking right at one.
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.
