Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A large marine mammal (Odobenus rosmarus) of Arctic regions, related to the seals and having two long tusks, tough wrinkled skin, and four flippers.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Any member of the family Trichechidæ (or Ros maridæ); a very large pinniped carnivorous mammal, related to the seals, having in the male enormous canine teeth protruding like tusks from the upper jaw.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) A very large marine mammal (Trichecus rosmarus) of the Seal family, native of the Arctic Ocean. The male has long and powerful tusks descending from the upper jaw. It uses these in procuring food and in fighting. It is hunted for its oil, ivory, and skin. It feeds largely on mollusks. Called also morse.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun countable A large Arctic marine mammal related to seals and having long tusks, tough, wrinkled skin, and four flippers.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun either of two large northern marine mammals having ivory tusks and tough hide over thick blubber

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Dutch, of Scandinavian origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Danish hvalros, inversion of Old Norse hrosshvalr ("horse-whale"). Compare Dutch walrus, Icelandic hross ("a horse") and hvalur ("a whale") and German Walross.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word walrus.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "The time has come," the Walrus said,

    "To talk of many things:

    Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax—

    Of cabbages—and kings—

    And why the sea is boiling hot—

    And whether pigs have wings."

    --Lewis Carroll

    Click here for full poem.

    February 22, 2007

  • Walrus life cycle, from Nataliedee.

    October 14, 2008

  • Haha!

    October 14, 2008

  • I can't decide if I like the little vampire egg or the deranged beaver best. Thanks, Pro!

    October 14, 2008

  • See also rosmarine.

    June 22, 2022