harpoon
Americannoun
-
harpoons
plural
-
a barbed, spearlike missile attached to a rope, and thrown by hand or shot from a gun, used for killing and capturing whales and large fish.
-
Military. Harpoon, a jet-powered, radar-guided U.S. Navy cruise missile with a high explosive warhead designed for use against surface ships and launchable from a surface vessel, submerged submarine, or aircraft.
verb (used with object)
-
harpoons,
present (3rd person singular)
-
harpooned,
past participle, past
-
harpooning
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
harpoonsimple
-
harpoonssimple
-
have harpoonedperfect
-
has harpoonedperfect
-
am harpooningprogressive
-
are harpooningprogressive
-
is harpooningprogressive
-
have been harpooningperfect progressive
-
has been harpooningperfect progressive
Past
-
harpoonedsimple
-
had harpoonedperfect
-
was harpooningprogressive
-
were harpooningprogressive
-
had been harpooningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of harpoon
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Dutch harpoen, ultimately derived from Old French harpon “a clasp, brooch,” equivalent to harp- (from Latin harpē, from Greek: “hook”) + -on diminutive suffix
Explanation
A harpoon is a long spear that's barbed. To harpoon is to strike an animal, like a whale, with a harpoon. If you are Moby Dick, you steer clear of harpoons. There are many weapons people use to hunt, such as guns, knives, and spears. When people hunt sea life such as whales and sharks, they use a type of spear called a harpoon. A harpoon is long like a spear, but it's also barbed, so when it penetrates an animal, it sticks in. The hunter throws the harpoon, and it has a line attached to it — much like a fishing line. Hunting animals in this way is called harpooning.
Vocabulary lists containing harpoon
The Old Man and the Sea
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Young Man and the Sea
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
A harpoon gun from "Jaws," a jacket worn by "The Terminator," and a "Star Wars" lightsaber hilt and C-3PO head are among the eye-catching items to be sold at auction next month.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
They got their name because they were the “right” whales to harpoon — their bodies floated for easy recovery after they were killed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2025
A stone’s throw from a few lounging sea lions, rusting storage tanks, boilers and beached harpoon boats lay testament to Deception Island’s past as a Norwegian whaling station.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2023
Tank tops that read “Salt Life Reel Escape” hang on a rack propped up by harpoon guns.
From New York Times ● May 28, 2023
“I used to own a harpoon boat. We used it for tuna and swordfish,” he said.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
Crew members plowed through ice, buzzed vessels attempting to dump nuclear waste, dodged harpoons, and spent almost a week in a Siberian prison.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2025
Proposed approaches include snatching debris with a robotic arm, scooping it up with giant nets, attracting it with magnets and spearing it with harpoons.
From Salon ● Apr. 12, 2025
Cusack and Streeter would team on three other projects that delivered harpoons to the heart.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2023
From bone, the hunter-gatherer peoples designed harpoons useful for hunting large marine mammals like whales.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
Walrus tusks gleamed and drums, harpoons, and man’s knives decorated the walls.
From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George
McLaren did their first runs on medium tyres in the first session to try to save softs for later but it seems to have harpooned Piastri.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2024
Reykjavík suspended commercial whaling in June after a government-commissioned report said that it took too long for whales to die after they were harpooned, sometimes hours, in breach of its law on animal welfare.
From Reuters ● Aug. 31, 2023
A write-up in the Evening Capital from August 1895 tells how he harpooned a 9½-foot beast that towed him all the way to Greenbury Point two miles away.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 27, 2022
But probably the biggest white whale I harpooned this year was my fellow New Yorker and the bard of outerborough pride, Mr. William Martin Joel.
From Slate ● Nov. 25, 2020
“Because they fought back when whalers harpooned them. Right in these very waters, actually. Back in the 1800s. Now, the other types of whales? Well, they’d die pretty conveniently once the harpooner stuck ’em.
From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Its first episode shows a hunter supposedly harpooning a whale but the BBC "does not consider that the portrayal of his role is accurate".
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2018
Staying outside the EU has also let Norway keep harpooning whales, despite strong opposition by the EU.
From Reuters ● Mar. 17, 2016
Bim Adewunmi "I need a case!" shouts Sherlock as he impatiently paces his flat a scant few hours after harpooning a pig in a previous assignment.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 19, 2013
Skewering Madison Avenue for 60 Years FOR six decades, a magazine has been putting the “Mad” in Madison Avenue by lampooning — and frequently harpooning — the huckstering of the advertising industry.
From New York Times ● Oct. 28, 2012
All the thinking I done about harpooning a big fish, I never thought about what happens after.
From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick
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.
