Definition of Baleen

1. Noun. A horny material from the upper jaws of certain whales; used as the ribs of fans or as stays in corsets.

Exact synonyms: Whalebone
Generic synonyms: Horn

Definition of Baleen

1. n. Plates or blades of "whalebone," from two to twelve feet long, and sometimes a foot wide, which in certain whales (Balænoidea) are attached side by side along the upper jaw, and form a fringelike sieve by which the food is retained in the mouth.

Definition of Baleen

1. Noun. (context: physiology uncountable) The plates in the mouth of the baleen whale, ''Mysticeti'', which it uses to trap its food; formerly used in corsetry ¹

2. Noun. (context: zoology countable) a baleen whale ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Baleen

1. whalebone [n -S] - See also: whalebone

Medical Definition of Baleen

1. Plates or blades of "whalebone," from two to twelve feet long, and sometimes a foot wide, which in certain whales (Balaenoidea) are attached side by side along the upper jaw, and form a fringelike sieve by which the food is retained in the mouth. Origin: F. Baleine whale and whalibone, L. Balaena a whale; cf. Gr. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Baleen

baldric
baldrick
baldricks
baldrics
balds
balductum
baldwin
baldy
bale
bale out
bale up
balearic
balearica
baled
baled out
baleen (current term)
baleen whale
baleen whales
baleens
balefire
balefires
baleful
balefull
balefully
balefulness
balefulnesses
balenological
balenology
baler
balers

Literary usage of Baleen

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

1. The Popular Science Monthly by Harry Houdini Collection (Library of Congress) (1885)
"The baleen-blades attain the number of three hundred and fifty or more on each side, and those in the middle of the series have a length of ten or even ..."

2. The English Cyclopaedia by Charles Knight (1866)
"The baleen, or whalebone, affords good characters for the separation of this family into sections. Mr. Knox (' Cat. Prep. Whale,') gives the beat account of ..."

3. A Text-book of Zoology by Thomas Jeffery Parker, William Aitcheson Haswell (1921)
"... with baleen- plates (6, c) frayed out at their free edges (d, e). (After Owen.) .31 ». c. 3 p. - Qn m. = 30. The lower carnassial is thus the last of ..."

4. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia by Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (1868)
"In the former nearly 6 in an inch, in the latter 2 J. The baleen of the A. gibbosus belonged to an immature specimen of 35 feet in length. June 30th. ..."

5. Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon by Robert Armitage Sterndale (1884)
"baleen, therefore, though varying from a few inches to a number of feet long, in fact approximates to a series of, so to say, mouth nail-plates, ..."

6. The Mechanics' Magazine, Museum, Register, Journal, and Gazette (1852)
"only the central fibrous or tubular portion of the baleen-plate is formed, ... The baleen-plates are smallest at the two extremities of the series ; in the ..."

7. Adventure Guide to the Inside Passage and Coastal Alaska by Lynn Readicker-Henderson (2002)
"baleen Humpbacks are a type of baleen whale, which means they eat fairly small stuff - nothing bigger than, say a shrimp or so - and do so by scooping up a ..."

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