Definition of Right whale

1. Noun. Large Arctic whalebone whale; allegedly the 'right' whale to hunt because of its valuable whalebone and oil.

Generic synonyms: Baleen Whale, Whalebone Whale
Group relationships: Balaenidae, Family Balaenidae

Definition of Right whale

1. Noun. The baleen whales belonging to the family ''Balaenidae'', in the genera ''Eubalaena'' (three species) and ''Balaena'' (one species, the bowhead whale, also called the Greenland right whale). ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Medical Definition of Right whale

1. The bowhead, Arctic, or Greenland whale (Balaena mysticetus), from whose mouth the best whalebone is obtained. Any other whale that produces valuable whalebone, as the Atlantic, or Biscay, right whale (Balaena cisarctica), and the Pacific right whale (B. Sieboldii); a bone whale. Pygmy right whale, a small New Zealand whale (Neobalaena marginata) which is only about sixteen feet long. It produces short, but very elastic and tough, whalebone. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Right Whale

right to petition
right to privacy
right to roam
right to speedy and public trial by jury
right to the pursuit of happiness
right to vote
right triangle
right triangles
right triangular ligament
right up someone's alley
right ventricle
right ventricular hypertrophy
right whale (current term)
right wing
rightable
rightabout
rightabouts
rightard
rightards
righted
righten
rightened
rightening
rightens
righteo
righteous
righteoused

Literary usage of Right whale

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review by Isaac Smith Homans, William B. Dana (1849)
"Of the whole number of vessels at sea (558), about one-half are engaged chiefly in the sperm whale fishery, the other half making the right whale the main ..."

2. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1920)
"Certain it is that they visited Newfoundland immediately after the discovery of America and captured the same species of right whale in those waters. ..."

3. Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review by William B. Dana (1849)
"Of the whole number of vessels at sea (558), about one-half are engaged chiefly in the sperm whale fishery, the other half making the right whale the main ..."

4. Report of the Annual Meeting (1873)
"... and this difference in the thoracic adaptation, together with the great breadth of the first rib in the right whale, might explain the very different ..."

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