rorqual

[ rawr-kwuhl ]

/ ˈrɔr kwəl /

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noun

any of several whales of the genus Balaenoptera; finback.

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Origin of rorqual

1820–30; <French <Norwegian rørkval,Old Norse reytharhvalr, equivalent to reyth(a)r rorqual (akin to rauthrred¹) + hvalrwhale¹

Words nearby rorqual

roquet, roquette, Roraima, Rorem, ro-ro, rorqual, Rorschach test, rort, rorter, Rory, Rory O'Connor

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use rorqual in a sentence

Based on what she has observed in dissections of rorquals, Reidenberg says, the rigid and floppy cartilage flaps at the top of the larynx wouldn’t fit together to make a particularly good seal in whales.
Baleen whales have an ‘oral plug’ to help them guzzle down food without choking|Kate Baggaley|January 24, 2022|Popular-Science
Rorquals use a highly unusual strategy known as lunge feeding to capture krill, fish, and squid.
Baleen whales have an ‘oral plug’ to help them guzzle down food without choking|Kate Baggaley|January 24, 2022|Popular-Science
The only other rorqual to do so—the blue whale—raises the flukes slightly or not at all.
Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the Western North Atlantic|Stephen Leatherwood
He came out to meet me upon the back of a mighty 'rorqual,' and a body-guard of four hundred picked narwhals swam before him.
Tales of the Chesapeake|George Alfred Townsend

There is another kind of whale, called the lesser rorqual, which only grows to the length of about twenty-five or thirty feet.
The Animal World, A Book of Natural History|Theodore Wood
The rorqual feeds partly upon the small creatures which it captures by means of its whalebone strainer, and partly upon fishes.
The Animal World, A Book of Natural History|Theodore Wood
That of the extinct Halitherium recalls the pelvis of the Rorqual.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia|Frank Evers Beddard

British Dictionary definitions for rorqual

rorqual

/ (ˈrɔːkwəl) /

noun

any of several whalebone whales of the genus Balaenoptera, esp B. physalus : family Balaenopteridae . They have a dorsal fin and a series of grooves along the throat and chestAlso called: finback

Word Origin for rorqual

C19: from French, from Norwegian rörhval, from Old Norse reytharhvalr, from reythr (from rauthr red) + hvalr whale

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

rorqual

Origin of rorqual

Words nearby rorqual

Words related to rorqual

How to use rorqual in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for rorqual

Word Origin for rorqual