Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. See sperm whale.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A name of the sperm-whale, Physeter or Catodon macrocephalus, a large, toothed cetacean of the family Physeteridæ or Catodontiæ, having teeth in the lower jaw, and an enormous blunt head, in a cavity of which spermaceti is contained, and sometimes attaining a length Of 80 feet. The cachalot is gregarious, going in herds sometimes of several hundred individuals, and feeds chiefly on cephalopods. The mouth contains no whalebone. The blubber yields the fine oil known as sperm-oil, and ambergris, a kind of bezoar, is found in the alimentary canal. See cut under
Physeter . - n. plural The sperm-whales as a family of cetaceans; the Physeteridæ.
Wiktionary
- n. The sperm whale.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). It has in the top of its head a large cavity, containing an oily fluid, which, after death, concretes into a whitish crystalline substance called spermaceti. See sperm whale.
WordNet 3.0
- n. large whale with a large cavity in the head containing spermaceti and oil; also a source of ambergris
Etymologies
- French, from Spanish or Portuguese cachalote, augmentative of cachola, big head.
Examples
“No one could better describe the macrocephalous cachalot, which is sometimes more than seventy-five feet long.”
“The cachalot is a disagreeable creature, more tadpole than fish, according to”
“The cachalot is a disagreeable creature, more tadpole than fish, according to Fredol's description.”
“The Abraham Lincoln checked its speed and made for the animal signalled, a simple whale, or common cachalot, which soon disappeared amidst a storm of abuse.”
“One cachalot killed, it ran at the next, tacked on the spot that it might not miss its prey, going forwards and backwards, answering to its helm, plunging when the cetacean dived into the deep waters, coming up with it when it returned to the surface, striking it front or sideways, cutting or tearing in all directions and at any pace, piercing it with its terrible spur.”
“But as perhaps fifty of these whale-bone whales are harpooned for one cachalot, some philosophers of the forecastle have concluded that this positive havoc has already very seriously diminished their battalions.”
“Having in our turn described to him our adventure with the cachalot whale, I asked him if he knew of a suitable spot for the anchorage of the yacht.”
“The mystery was explained; for, as the great beast emerged yet further from the water, I recognized, from its enormous size and great length of head, the cachalot whale.”
“There are three kinds of whale; the Greenland, called by the sailors the right whale, as being most highly prized by them; the great northern rorqual, called by fishers the razor-back or finner, and the cachalot or spermaciti whale.”
“The sperm or cachalot whale is a dangerous and bold fighter and is perhaps the most interesting of all cetaceans.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cachalot’.
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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