Definition of Harpoon

1. Verb. Spear with a harpoon. "Harpoon whales"

Generic synonyms: Catch, Grab, Take Hold Of
Derivative terms: Harpooner

2. Noun. A spear with a shaft and barbed point for throwing; used for catching large fish or whales; a strong line is attached to it.
Group relationships: Fishing Gear, Fishing Rig, Fishing Tackle, Rig, Tackle
Terms within: Fluke, Harpoon Line
Generic synonyms: Fishgig, Fizgig, Gig, Lance, Spear
Derivative terms: Harpooneer

Definition of Harpoon

1. n. A spear or javelin used to strike and kill large fish, as whales; a harping iron. It consists of a long shank, with a broad, fiat, triangular head, sharpened at both edges, and is thrown by hand, or discharged from a gun.

2. v. t. To strike, catch, or kill with a harpoon.

Definition of Harpoon

1. Noun. A spearlike weapon with a barbed head used in hunting whales and large fish. ¹

2. Noun. (slang) A harmonica. ¹

3. Verb. (transitive) To hunt something with a harpoon. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Harpoon

1. to strike with a harpoon [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Medical Definition of Harpoon

1. A spear or javelin used to strike and kill large fish, as whales; a harping iron. It consists of a long shank, with a broad, fiat, triangular head, sharpened at both edges, and is thrown by hand, or discharged from a gun. Harpoon fork, a kind of hayfork, consisting of bar with hinged barbs at one end a loop for a rope at the other end, used for lifting hay from the load by horse power. Harpoon gun, a gun used in the whale fishery for shooting the harpoon into a whale. Origin: F. Harpon, LL. Harpo, perh. Of Ger. Origin, fr. The harp; cf. F. Harper to take and grasp strongly, harpe a dog's claw, harpin boathook (the sense of hook coming from the shape of the harp); but cf. Also Gr. The kite, sickle, and E. Harpy. Cf. Harp. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Harpoon

harpagons
harpaxophobia
harped
harper
harpers
harpies
harpin
harping
harping iron
harping irons
harpings
harpins
harpist
harpists
harplike
harpoon (current term)
harpoon gun
harpoon line
harpoon log
harpooned
harpooneer
harpooneers
harpooner
harpooners
harpooning
harpoons
harpress
harps
harpsichon
harpsichons

Literary usage of Harpoon

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

1. Encyclopaedia Americana: A Popular Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature by Francis Lieber, Thomas Gamaliel Bradford (1831)
"The two principal withers, in the present improved harpoon, measure about eight inches in length and six in breadth ; the shank is eighteen inches to two ..."

2. Lake Ngami, Or, Explorations and Discoveries During Four Years' Wanderings by Charles John Andersson, John Charles Frémont (1857)
"HIPPOPOTAMUS harpoon. The harpoon (of iron), A, is, as seen in the above diagram, short and strong, and provided with a single barb, B. The shaft, ..."

3. Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow Expedition by John Murdoch (1892)
"harpoon head 218 207. harpoon head 219 208. Ancient bone harpoon head 219 209. ... Bone harpoon head 220 212. harpoon head, bone and stone 221 213. ..."

4. The Archaeological Journal by British Archaeological Association (1908)
"A harpoon (fig. 37), of the same type as the Oban specimen, was found in the Victoria Cave, with regard to which Professor Boyd Dawkins thus writes : " At ..."

5. On the Zoological Position of Texas by Edward Drinker Cope (1880)
"Handle of whaling-harpoon made of bone and wood. Eskimos. Greenland. ... Whaling-harpoon of recent manufacture, with head of bone and iron, handle of wood ..."

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