harpooner

American  

[hahr-poon-er] / hɑrˈpun ər /

noun

1. a person who uses a harpoon, especially to fish or to hunt marine animals.

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Example Sentences

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

Qaiyaan Harcharek is the harpooner of his Iñupiaq whaling crew in Utqiaġvik, the northernmost city in Alaska.

From Salon • Jun. 22, 2021

Queequeg, named after both the dog on “The X-Files” and the harpooner in “Moby-Dick,” was a tiny ball of German shepherd fuzz the first time my husband and I saw him.

From Washington Post • May 19, 2017

Scientists working at the University of British Columbia reported Friday that they had captured the first high-resolution video of this microscopic harpooner in action.

From New York Times • Mar. 31, 2017

“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