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

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

Scientists currently assume they live about 80 or 90 years, but that’s what we believed about bowhead and right whales until data proved they can live much longer.

From Salon • Dec. 27, 2024

In the years following that report, scientists tried to figure out what was unique about bowhead whales that allowed them to live so long.

From Salon • Dec. 27, 2024

Researchers used more than a decade of acoustic data to monitor bowhead whales' movements between their usual overwintering grounds in the Bering Sea and summer feeding grounds in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas.

From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2024

Figure 8b.—Swimming, blowing, and diving characteristics of humpback, bowhead, right, and sperm whales.

From Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the Western North Atlantic A Guide to Their Identification by Caldwell, David