Weyve to Wheal
Weyve (Weyve) v. t. To waive. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Wezand (We"zand) n. See Weasand. [Obs.]
Whaap (Whaap) n. [So called from one of its notes.] (Zoöl.) (a) The European curlew; - - called also
awp, whaup, great whaup, and stock whaup. (b) The whimbrel; called also May whaup, little
whaup, and tang whaup. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]
Whack (Whack) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Whacked ; p. pr. & vb. n. Whacking.] [Cf. Thwack.] To strike; to
beat; to give a heavy or resounding blow to; to thrash; to make with whacks. [Colloq.]
Rodsmen were whackingtheir way through willow brakes. G. W. Cable. Whack (Whack), v. i. To strike anything with a smart blow.
To whack away, to continue striking heavy blows; as, to whack away at a log. [Colloq.]
Whack (Whack), n. A smart resounding blow. [Colloq.]
Whacker (Whack"er) n.
1. One who whacks. [Colloq.]
2. Anything very large; specif., a great lie; a whapper. [Colloq.] Halliwell.
Whacking (Whack"ing), a. Very large; whapping. [Colloq.]
Whahoo (Wha*hoo") n. (Bot.) An American tree, the winged elm.
Whala (Whala) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Whaled ; p. pr. & vb. n. Whaling.] [Cf. Wale. ] To lash with
stripes; to wale; to thrash; to drub. [Prov. Eng. & Colloq. U. S.] Halliwell. Bartlett.
Whale (Whale), n. [OE. whal, AS. hwæl; akin to D. walvisch, G. wal, walfisch, OHG. wal, Icel. hvalr,
Dan. & Sw. hval, hvalfisk. Cf. Narwhal, Walrus.] (Zoöl.) Any aquatic mammal of the order Cetacea,
especially any one of the large species, some of which become nearly one hundred feet long. Whales
are hunted chiefly for their oil and baleen, or whalebone.
The existing whales are divided into two groups: the toothed whales including those that have teeth, as
the cachalot, or sperm whale (see Sperm whale); and the baleen, or whalebone, whales comprising
those that are destitute of teeth, but have plates of baleen hanging from the upper jaw, as the right whales.
The most important species of whalebone whales are the bowhead, or Greenland, whale the Biscay
whale, the Antarctic whale, the gray whale (see under Gray), the humpback, the finback, and the rorqual.
Whale bird. (Zoöl.) (a) Any one of several species of large Antarctic petrels which follow whaling vessels,
to feed on the blubber and floating oil; especially, Prion turtur and Pseudoprion desolatus. (b) The
turnstone; so called because it lives on the carcasses of whales. [Canada] Whale fin (Com.),
whalebone. Simmonds. Whale fishery, the fishing for, or occupation of taking, whales. Whale
louse (Zoöl.), any one of several species of degraded amphipod crustaceans belonging to the genus
Cyamus, especially C. ceti. They are parasitic on various cetaceans. Whale's bone, ivory. [Obs.]
Whale shark. (Zoöl.) (a) The basking, or liver, shark. (b) A very large harmless shark (Rhinodon
typicus) native of the Indian Ocean. It sometimes becomes sixty feet long. Whale shot, the name
formerly given to spermaceti. Whale's tongue (Zoöl.), a balanoglossus.
Whaleboat (Whale"boat`) n. (Naut.) A long, narrow boat, sharp at both ends, used by whalemen.
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