Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. Any of various marine cetacean mammals, such as the bottle-nosed dolphin, of the family Delphinidae, related to the whales but generally smaller and having a beaklike snout.
- n. A large marine food and game fish (Coryphaena hippurus) found worldwide in tropical waters, having an iridescent blue back, yellow sides, a steep blunt forehead, and a long continuous dorsal fin. Also called dolphinfish, dorado, mahi-mahi.
- n. A similar fish (C. equisetis) of smaller size, having silvery or pale yellow sides. Also called dolphinfish, pompano dolphin.
- n. A buoy, pile, or group of piles used for mooring boats.
- n. A group of piers used as a fender at a dock.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. A carnivorous aquatic mammal inhabiting mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, famed for its intelligence and occasional willingness to approach humans.
- n. A fish, the mahi-mahi or dorado, scientific name Coryphaena hippurus, with a dorsal fin that runs the length of the body, also known for iridescent coloration.
- n. The dauphin, eldest son of the kings of France.
- n. A man-made semi submerged maritime structure, usually installed to provide a fixed structure for temporary mooring, to prevent ships from drifting to shallow water or to serve as base for navigational aids.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. A cetacean of the genus Delphinus and allied genera (esp. Delphinus delphis); the true dolphin.
- n. The Coryphæna hippuris, a fish of about five feet in length, celebrated for its surprising changes of color when dying. It is the fish commonly known as the dolphin. The term is also applied to the related Coryphaena equisetis. Called also dolphinfish and (especially in Hawaii) mahimahi. See also dolphinfish and Coryphænoid.
- n. A mass of iron or lead hung from the yardarm, in readiness to be dropped on the deck of an enemy's vessel.
- n.
- n. A kind of wreath or strap of plaited cordage.
- n. A spar or buoy held by an anchor and furnished with a ring to which ships may fasten their cables.
- n. A mooring post on a wharf or beach.
- n. A permanent fender around a heavy boat just below the gunwale.
- n. In old ordnance, one of the handles above the trunnions by which a cannon was lifted.
- n. A small constellation between Aquila and Pegasus. See Delphinus, n., 2.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The popular name of the cetaceous mammals of the family Delphinidæ and genus Delphinus, most of which are also known as and more frequently called porpoises, this word being interchangeable with dolphin.
- n. A general and popular name of fish of the family Coryphænidæ: so called from some con-fusion with the mammals of the same name.
- n. In Gr. antiquity, a ponderous mass of lead or iron suspended from a special yard on a naval vessel, and, if opportunity presented, let fall into the hold of a hostile ship to sink her by breaking through her bottom.
- n. Nautical: A spar or buoy made fast to an anchor, and usually supplied with a ring to enable vessels to ride by it.
- n. A mooring-post placed at the entrance of a dock.
- n. In early artillery, a handle cast solid on a cannon.
- n. [capitalized] In astronomy, an ancient northern constellation, Delphinus (which see).
- n. In architecture, a technical term applied to the pipe and cover at a source for the supply of water.
- n. In Christian archæol., an image or representation of a dolphin, constituting an emblem of love, diligence, and swiftness.
- n. Same as dauphin.
- n. In lumbering, a cluster of piles to which a boom is secured. [U. S.]
- n. Same as dolphin-fly.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. any of various small toothed whales with a beaklike snout; larger than porpoises
- n. large slender food and game fish widely distributed in warm seas (especially around Hawaii)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Examples
-
We use the term dolphin to refer to members of the taxonomic family Delphinidae, which consists of thirty-three species of dolphins ranging from coastal to pelagic and tiny to large.
-
Captivity for a dolphin is a life-long imprisonment.
Brenda Peterson: Japan: Stop Killing Our Evolutionary Elders and Help Save Our Oceans
-
But why then, if a dolphin is an intelligent agent, would we not include the dolphin as a likely candidate?
-
“I think you should try to remember,” she said, “that what you call a dolphin, most Americans would call a hero.”
-
Hengst - not really. dolphin is to fish as antelope is to iguana.
-
For those playing Metaphoropoly at home, the dolphin is me and my creative spirit; the sea is the crashing waves of creative thought; the net is worldly success.
-
The recently described snubfin dolphin has some interesting predatory behavior: "the small dolphins hunt in groups, chasing fish to the surface of the water and rounding them up by shooting jets of water from their mouths."
-
The best way to serve dolphin is ground into burgers.
-
Also spotted at KSC over various trips -- bald eagles, many many gators, and it almost never fails that we spot a dolphin from the causeway.
-
A group of the recently described snubfin dolphin was filmed off Australia's northwest coast.
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.