grampus
Americannoun
plural
grampuses-
a cetacean, Grampus griseus, of the dolphin family, widely distributed in northern seas.
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any of various related cetaceans, as the killer whale, Orcinus (Orca ) orca.
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a giant whip scorpion common to Florida.
noun
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a widely distributed slaty-grey dolphin, Grampus griseus, with a blunt snout
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another name for killer whale
Etymology
Origin of grampus
1520–30; earlier grampoys, variant (by assimilation) of graundepose great fish, equivalent to graunde grand + pose, poys < Middle French pois, peis < Latin pisce- (stem of piscis ) fish; replacing Middle English gra ( s ) peis < Middle French ≪ Latin crassus piscis fat fish
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.
Other monikers are equally undignified: “snot otter,” “mud devil,” “grampus.”
From Washington Post
It h a menacing or amorous puff, similar to the grampus.
From Literature
A few years ago, an immense shoal of grampus were driven ashore at Antigua during a season of stormy weather, and by the oil they yielded, became a valuable prize.
From Project Gutenberg
“And how do you know a grampus does?” asked McBain, smiling.
From Project Gutenberg
On the 26th of December we saw several albicores, dolphins, and grampus, and shoals of flying fish; lat. at noon 22.
From Project Gutenberg
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.
