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  1. narwhal love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. An Arctic whale (Monodon monoceros) that has a spotted pelt and is characterized in the male by a long spirally twisted ivory tusk projecting from the left side of its head.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A cetacean, Monodon monoceros, of the family Delphinidræ and the subfamily Delphinapterinæ; the sea-unicorn, unicorn-whale, or unicorn-fish. One of the teeth of the male is enormously developed into a straight spirally fluted tusk from 6 to 10 feet long. This tusk is sometimes almost as long as the rest of the creature, and furnishes a valuable ivory. The narwhal also yields a superior quality of oil. It inhabits arctic seas. See also cut under Monodon.

Wiktionary

  1. n. An Arctic cetacean, about 20 feet (6 meters) long; the male has a single twisted pointed canine tooth or tusk projecting forward like a horn.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. (Zoöl.) An arctic cetacean (Monodon monocerous), about twenty feet long. The male usually has one long, twisted, pointed canine tooth, or tusk, projecting forward from the upper jaw like a horn, whence it is called also sea unicorn, unicorn fish, and unicorn whale. Sometimes two horns are developed, side by side.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. small Arctic whale the male having a long spiral ivory tusk

Etymologies

  1. From Dutch narwal or Danish narhval, from Old Norse náhvalr, from nár ("corpse") + hvalr ("whale"). Compare Icelandic náhvalur. (Wiktionary)
  2. Norwegian or Danish narhval, from Old Norse nāhvalr : nār, corpse (from its whitish color) + hvalr, whale. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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synonyms (1)

Words with the same meaning

  1. sea unicorn

hypernyms (1)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. whale

same context (20)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. kailiauk
  2. upward-curving
  3. tyrosine-based
  4. hornlike
  1. seven-inch
  2. expressionist
  3. dimerization
  4. out-stretched
  1. rams'
  2. mastodon
  3. stavanzer
  4. silvery-white
  1. basolateral
  2. pre-existence
  3. schitzophrenic
  4. Morse
  1. age-darkened
  2. walrus
  3. chordal
  4. two-hundred-year-old

reverse dictionary (14)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. sea-unicorn
  2. narwal
  1. unicorn-fish
  2. unicorn-whale
  1. orc
  2. sea unicorn
  1. unicorn fish
  2. ceratodon
  1. delphinapterinæ
  2. ivory
  1. Monoceros
  2. monodon
  1. unicorn
  2. whalebone

tags (13)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. animal
  2. mammal
  1. marine
  2. whale
  1. candidate for wordie mascot
  2. cetacean
  1. cvcccvc
  2. rw
  1. sea-unicorn
  2. unicorn-whale
  1. unicorn-fish
  2. narwhale
  1. tusking

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tagging (1)

Words tagged ‘narwhal’

  1. sea-unicorn

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Lists

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Comments

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  • ruzuzu The word narwhal always reminds me of the Pablo Neruda poem "Los Enigmas" which is quoted (sort of... in English...) toward the end of the movie Mindwalk:

    You question me about the wicked tusk of the narwhal,
    and I respond by describing to you
    how the sea unicorn with a harpoon in it dies.

    (Here's a link from YouTube). May 15, 2010

  • ruzuzu Oh, right, it's narwhals that eat fairies. Got it. Dec 12, 2009

  • bilby blessing seems a bit wish-unicorns-were-real wistful while tusking came from someone's toddler at bedtime story. Nov 6, 2009

  • seanahan From googling, it appears that "pod" is the more common term for narwhals. As with all of the exhaltation of larks, these are highly subjective and people like us are constantly coming up with new ones. All it takes (especially with the internet) is for someone to come up with a good one and have the meme catch on. Nov 6, 2009

  • frogapplause Is this accurate?
    According to this a group of narwhals is a group, a blessing, or a tusking. These groups are usually in between 5-10 narwhals.

    Nov 6, 2009

  • chained_bear "Freebase the Magic Narwhal." Sep 3, 2008

  • rolig Glad you appreciated my little pun, rt. Aug 28, 2008

  • reesetee Rolig: Nar-do-whal is what I always think of when I hear this word! Haha! Aug 28, 2008

  • lyuds The narwhal revenge toys are great, I actually saw those at the store the other day... Aug 27, 2008

  • chained_bear Whallets? Really?! Aug 27, 2008

  • Prolagus By the way, I found those items on my coworker's desk today. Aug 27, 2008

  • rolig Sad about what happened to this poor creature's cousin, the nar-do-whal, in and out of prison, spawning little whals (whallets?) all over the ocean without providing any support… Eventually he developed a serious planktoning problem, but refused to get any help for it. Aug 27, 2008

  • chained_bear I'm having the freakiest deja vus lately. Didn't we have this very conversation somewhere, complete with links? I could have sworn it was on the narwhal page, but apparently not. *is freaked out, goes to check bacon* Aug 27, 2008

  • reesetee Archie! You have to love that site.

    Well, you don't, really, but I do. :-) Aug 27, 2008

  • Prolagus OK, now have a look at this, and this, and this. Aug 27, 2008

  • lallafa Oh man they totally are whale-unicorns. Also they eat fairies. Did you know? Apr 21, 2007

  • moochaloocha ken loves narwhals. i think they are some sort of mutant whale-unicorn breed designed to take over the world. Jan 30, 2007

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‘narwhal’ has been looked up 2640 times, loved by 5 people, added to 40 lists, commented on 17 times, and has a Scrabble score of 13.