Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The business or practice of hunting, killing, and processing whales.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The act or business of taking whales; the pursuit of whales; whale-fishing: much used in compounds: as, a whaling-ship; a whaling-voyage; whaling- grounds; bay -whaling; shore-whaling.
- Big, unusual, or extraordinary of its kind; strapping; whopping; whacking: as, a whaling lie.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The hunting of whales.
- adjective Pertaining to, or employed in, the pursuit of whales
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun   The practice of hunting whales .
- noun   The practice of spotting whales .
- noun informal  A beating .
- verb   Present participle of whale .
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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								"Several recent phishing attacks have been directed specifically at senior executives and other high profile targets within businesses, and the term whaling has been coined for these kinds of attacks." 
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								"Several recent phishing attacks have been directed specifically at senior executives and other high profile targets within businesses, and the term whaling has been coined for these kinds of attacks." 
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								Since 1986, when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) 's moratorium was enforced, commercial whaling is prohibited in Japan. Global Voices in English » Japan: Whaling. Scientific research or commercial hunting? 2009 
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								We could stop whaling tomorrow by sending in a military force to protect the whales and kill the whalers, but would such a show of force make people understand that whaling is wrong? Is Pacifism A Sham? John Storhm 2009 
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								We could stop whaling tomorrow by sending in a military force to protect the whales and kill the whalers, but would such a show of force make people understand that whaling is wrong? Archive 2009-03-01 John Storhm 2009 
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								At present only research whaling is allowed, but a lot of whales hunted become food under the guise of ‘scientific’ research. Global Voices in English » Japan: Whaling. Scientific research or commercial hunting? 2009 
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								Humpbacks are still recovering from long-term whaling losses, but Japan and Denmark still want the IWC to let them hunt small numbers each year. 
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								Australia may intervene in Japanese whaling row: minister Raw Story 2009 
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								In recent decades, a broadening international consensus has begun to emerge in the policies of those institutions concerned with "whaling" - in itself an unpleasant term for what should accurately be called whale hunting - and in particular that of the IWC, created in 1946 to co-ordinate the different national industries. Environment news, comment and analysis from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk Paola Cavalieri 2010 
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								In recent decades, a broadening international consensus has begun to emerge in the policies of those institutions concerned with "whaling" - in itself an unpleasant term for what should accurately be called whale hunting - and in particular that of the IWC, created in 1946 to co-ordinate the different national industries. EcoEarth.Info Environment RSS Newsfeed info@ecologicalinternet.org (Guardian: Paola Caval 2010 
frogapplause commented on the word whaling
See spear phishing.
June 4, 2011