sperm whale

American  

noun

sperm whales plural

1. a large, square-snouted whale, Physeter catodon, valued for its oil and spermaceti: now reduced in number and rare in some areas.

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sperm whale British  

noun

1. Also called: cachalot.  a large toothed whale, Physeter catodon, having a square-shaped head and hunted for sperm oil, spermaceti, and ambergris: family Physeteridae

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sperm whales
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sperm whale

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sperm whale

Like Herman Melville’s Pequod, the Mentor sought the sperm whale and its barrels of valuable oil.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

A sperm whale that died after stranding on the Isle of Harris in November 2019 had a 100kg "litter ball" in its stomach.

From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2025

The team found that mandatory measures to reduce whale-ship collisions were very rare, overlapping just 0.54% of blue whale hotspots and 0.27% of humpback hotspots, and not overlapping any fin or sperm whale hotspots.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 21, 2024

Even if sperm whale codas can’t be decoded, however, that doesn’t mean they can’t be better understood.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2024

Dad would rub imaginary spray out of his eyes, and scan the horizon for possible sperm whale, Flying Dutchmen, or floating ambergris.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey