whaling
Americannoun
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the work or industry of capturing and rendering whales; whale fishing.
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Digital Technology. a phishing attempt by someone posing as a company’s attorney, CEO, vendor, or other authorized entity in order to scam a payroll department, corporate executive, etc., out of money or confidential information.
The source of the whaling gave all appearances of legitimacy and trustworthiness.
noun
adverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of whaling
whale 1 + -ing 1; whaling def. 1 was first recorded in 1680–90; whaling def. 2 in 2010–15 (in the sense “hunting for a big fish/phish”)
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.
This includes for the animals living in these "chemosynthetic" communities, whose numbers had been thought to have been drastically reduced by human whaling, she added.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Even decades later, the legacy of whaling continues to shape whale populations, affecting not only how many whales exist today but also which males succeed in fathering calves.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 5, 2026
Compared to the sleek, minimalist driving environment of a Tesla Model Y, the Crosstrek’s looks like the helm of a whaling ship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
California shut down the nation’s last whaling station in 1971.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2026
He was working solo, whaling on battle dummies with a sword I’d never seen before.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
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.
