sperm whale

American

noun

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

sperm whale British

noun

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

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

sperm whales

plural

Etymology

Origin of sperm whale

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

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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

Its shape closely resembles a sperm whale, the famous marine animal from Herman Melville's novel, which inspired its name.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 1, 2026

A sperm whale that was entangled in ropes has died after it became stranded on a shore of the island of Raasay.

From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2025

A small pod of sperm whale calves dive to swim under me and turn on their backs to look at us.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2024

It was an especially large type of whale called a sperm whale; from nose to tail it was as long as the Acorn itself.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023