bowhead

American  

[boh-hed] / ˈboʊˌhɛd /

noun

1. a baleen whale, Balaena mysticetus, of northern seas, having an enormous head and mouth: an endangered species.

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bowhead British  

/ ˈbəʊˌhɛd /

noun

1. a large-mouthed arctic whale, Balaena mysticetus , that has become rare through overfishing but is now a protected species

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Etymology

Origin of bowhead

First recorded in 1885–90; bow ² + head

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bowhead

Other whale species include North Pacific gray whales, the North Atlantic right whale, minke, sperm, fin and bowhead whales.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2025

Like bowhead and right whales, these were also almost wiped out by whaling.

From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2024

Like right whales, before that analysis, researchers thought bowhead whales lived to about 80 years, and that humans were the mammals that lived the longest.

From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2024

Scientists wondered if climate change was behind the shift in bowhead whale migration patterns, but they needed more information on the whales' migration patterns over time to figure it out.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 21, 2024

His tanned features and knotted hands, his quick manner and alert stride, spoke the Dundee and Grimsby whaler, who had sailed many seas and fastened to more than an ordinary number of bowhead whales.

From The Ice Pilot by Henry Leverage