white whale
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of white whale
First recorded in 1680–90
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.
The host, a devout Catholic, has called the pontiff his "white whale."
From Barron's • May 21, 2026
Once the leviathan of profit for companies like Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific, pelvic mesh was now the white whale of liability for mass tort plaintiffs’ attorneys.
From Slate • Jan. 13, 2026
Kent’s jet-black sea is indistinguishable from the cosmos, and his white whale glows like some luminary body within it.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026
"China is Mark Zuckerberg's white whale," meaning a goal that he obsessively pursued, says Ms Wynn-Williams.
From BBC • Mar. 10, 2025
“You would. Big white whale is a metaphor for everything. You live for pretentious metaphors.”
From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green
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.
