beluga
Americannoun
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belugas
plural
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Also called hausen. a white sturgeon, Huso huso, of the Black and Caspian seas, valued as a source of caviar and isinglass.
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Also called sea canary, white whale. a cetacean, Delphinapterus leucas, of northern seas, that has a rounded head and is white when adult.
noun
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a large white sturgeon, Acipenser (or Huso ) huso , of the Black and Caspian Seas: a source of caviar and isinglass
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another name for white whale
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of beluga
1585–95; < Russian belúga (now regularly belúkha for the cetacean), equivalent to bél ( yĭ ) white + -uga, probably earlier *-ǫga (compare Czech pstruh, Polish pstrąg trout < *pĭstr- mottled + *-ǫgŭ a cognate suffix)
Vocabulary lists containing beluga
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:
Three rescued beluga whales have arrived at SeaWorld San Diego after traveling more than 2,500 miles from Canada following the closure of a marine park in Niagara Falls.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
It also serves as a winter foraging site for Cook Inlet beluga whales, whose numbers have dropped to around 300.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Six beluga whales have arrived at aquariums in the United States after being moved from a closed Canadian marine park that could no longer care for the mammals.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
"To me, the differences in sexual dimorphism among populations of beluga whales could indicate that mating systems also vary, and this is something we are currently working on," said O'Corry-Crowe.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 2026
The fresh and dried fish; the fat, oil, or meat from beaver, beluga, caribou, moose, oogruk, polar bear, and walrus; cranberries, salmonberries and wild rhubarb all had so far escaped contamination.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Eric Otjen, vice president of animals and conservation for SeaWorld San Diego, said the team there “is overjoyed to welcome the belugas to San Diego,” according to Fox 5 San Diego.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
Animals including narwhals and belugas are sharing habitat with - or even being displaced by - these other whales.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
It is also performing baseline wildlife surveys, including acoustic monitoring of the belugas to better understand where they swim.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
The findings suggest that both male and female belugas reproduce with multiple partners over the course of their lives.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 2026
Behind me, the back seat is full of shout-singing about baby belugas in the deep blue sea.
From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden
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.
