pilot whale
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of pilot whale
First recorded in 1865–70
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.
Scientists have observed orcas mismothering before—an orca took in a baby pilot whale in 2021, for instance—but in these prior cases, the animal usually survives.
From National Geographic ● Oct. 30, 2023
"Whether the attraction between SN0540 and the pilot whale calf was mutual or one-sided is not known, nor is the duration of the association, or how it started and ended," they wrote.
From Salon ● Mar. 9, 2023
Mr Kitchener added that the discovery means it can no longer be assumed that every stranded pilot whale in Britain is a long-finned pilot whale.
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2023
A pilot whale — technically a kind of dolphin — may be up to 20 feet long and weigh as much as two tons.
From New York Times ● Sep. 23, 2022
The dorsal fin, like that of the Atlantic pilot whale, is one of the species' most distinctive characteristics.
From Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the Western North Atlantic A Guide to Their Identification by Caldwell, David
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.
