white whale

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noun

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Origin of white whale

First recorded in 1680–90

Words nearby white whale

whitewater, white water lily, whitewater rafting, white wax, white wedding, white whale, white wine, whitewing, white-winged dove, white-winged scoter, whitewood

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

How to use white whale in a sentence

If Deadspin has one singular white whale, it is the guys in Bristol, Conn.
Deadspin Rides Manti Te’o Hoax Story to Renown—and Keeps Heat on ESPN|David Freedlander|February 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
American novelists no longer have the ambition, the reach, the balls, frankly, to seek that great white whale.
A Brilliant Holocaust Novel|Michael Korda|February 25, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Coup's Broadway Aquarium opened on October 11, 1876—too late to get a white whale that year.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, July 1899|Various
The white whale is the only one of its tribe that can be captured in the manner related, because of its cowardly timidity.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, July 1899|Various

They were upholstered with "bladder wrack," a most soft cushion, and in each box a white whale lay on these pneumatic cushions.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, July 1899|Various
There was a great sign outdoor sayin', 'Come on aboard and see the White Whale,' or somethin' similar.
Fair Harbor|Joseph Crosby Lincoln
Blubber and white whale meat, frozen very hard, were packed for dog food.
Ungava Bob|Dillon Wallace

British Dictionary definitions for white whale

white whale

noun

a small white toothed whale, Delphinapterus leucas, of northern waters: family MonodontidaeAlso called: beluga

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