sperm whale

American  

noun

sperm whales plural

1. a large, square-snouted whale, Physeter catodon, valued for its oil and spermaceti: now reduced in number and rare in some areas.

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sperm whale British  

noun

1. Also called: cachalot.  a large toothed whale, Physeter catodon, having a square-shaped head and hunted for sperm oil, spermaceti, and ambergris: family Physeteridae

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sperm whales
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sperm whale

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sperm whale

"The lateral view of the soldier's frontal prominence and elongated head resembles the head of a sperm whale, and in both organisms, the mandibles are eclipsed by the head," he said.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 1, 2026

Kent frames his illustration of Daggoo, the African crewman, darting a sperm whale from directly behind the harpooner, depicting him in muscular silhouette.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026

A sperm whale that was entangled in ropes has died after it became stranded on a shore of the island of Raasay.

From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2025

The team found that mandatory measures to reduce whale-ship collisions were very rare, overlapping just 0.54% of blue whale hotspots and 0.27% of humpback hotspots, and not overlapping any fin or sperm whale hotspots.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 21, 2024

George Pocock, meanwhile, began applying a coat of sperm whale oil to the underside of the Husky Clipper.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown