narwhal
Americannoun
-
narwhals
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of narwhal
First recorded in 1650–60; from Scandinavian; compare Norwegian, Swedish, Danish nar(h)val, reshaped from Old Norse nāhvalr, equivalent to nār “corpse” + hvalr whale 1; allegedly so called because its skin resembles that of a human corpse
Explanation
A narwhal is like the unicorn of whales, with a long pointy tusk sticking out of its head. And, like unicorns, you probably won't spot one (unless you are traveling the Arctic waters near Greenland). Only male narwhals have a distinctive ivory tusk, which is actually a long, protruding canine tooth. It's a medium-sized whale, related to the beluga, and it's able to dive underwater for up to 25 minutes at a time. Narwhal comes from the Danish narhval, with the Old Norse root nahvalr literally meaning "corpse whale," for the narwhal's pale white color, thought to resemble the shade of a dead body.
Vocabulary lists containing narwhal
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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:
The fight against climate change has a new, spiral-tusked ally: the narwhal.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
An extended version of the ad also features a talking narwhal.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 7, 2024
The list includes a Queen's Gallantry Medal for Darryn Frost who used a narwhal tusk to fend off Usman Khan outside the Fishmongers' Hall event.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2023
And while this shift isn't necessarily bad for the opportunistic cetaceans, which can adapt to a certain threshold of oceanic shifts, it places immense stress on endemic species like narwhal.
From Salon ● Mar. 7, 2023
She reached for one of the papers and read aloud: “‘On May seventeenth, Ronald Taylor jumped into the Arctic Ocean yelling “Sea unicorn!” and he startled a narwhal.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
But narwhals are themselves "losers in the climate game," noted Heide-Jorgensen.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
Menopause is known to exist in five species of toothed whale: short-finned pilot whales, false killer whales, killer whales, narwhals and beluga whales.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 13, 2024
They include orcas, short-finned pilot whales, narwhals, beluga whales, and false killer whales.
From National Geographic ● Oct. 26, 2023
The animals that could join the list are killer whales, hippos, walruses, narwhals, and sperm whales.
From BBC ● May 22, 2023
What happened when all the new animals in the north killed off the arctic foxes and belugas and narwhals and polar bears that already lived there?
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
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.
