minke
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of minke
1930–35; < Norwegian minkehval, allegedly after a crew member of the Norwegian whaling pioneer Svend Foyn (1809–94), named Meincke, who mistook a pod of minkes for blue whales
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.
A sequence showing a minke whale's desperate break for freedom from a hunting team of killer whales provided an enduring image.
From BBC • May 8, 2026
The study, published in Scientific Reports, found a steep rise in strandings involving common dolphins and baleen whales - filter-feeding species that include minke and humpback whales.
From BBC • Aug. 20, 2025
A minke whale has beached and died at Portstewart Strand in County Londonderry.
From BBC • May 26, 2025
Despite recent efforts by marine wildlife experts to reroute the animal to deeper waters, the minke whale was found dead on Sunday, officials confirmed.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2025
Grand-mother snare dáxe tá minke, kĭ b¢íze tá miñke hă.
From Illustration Of The Method Of Recording Indian Languages From the First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution by Gatschet, Albert Samuel
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.
