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Glite Dictionary
bowhead

bowhead

1 9.3
A large Arctic whale with a big curved head and thick layer of fat
  • noun
  • /ˈboʊˌhɛd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : ballena franca
  • The bowhead whale is known for its massive, bow-shaped head and can live for over a century.
  • bowhead whale
  • bowhead whale population
  • bowhead whale stock

Because I had heard that bowhead whales don't age.

Examples

  • The IWC is the primary body responsible for the conservation and management of bowhead whale populations worldwide.

    Academic text (1995)

  • There has been some difficulty in assessing the historical distribution and abundance of bowhead whales in the Okhotsk Sea.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Movement patterns of bowhead whales within the eastern North Atlantic are not well known.

    Academic text (1995)

  • There is evidence that bowhead whales are long-lived animals.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Clearly, bowhead whale stocks are slow to recover, and some might not recover at all.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Little is known of the migration patterns of bowhead whales found in the northern Barents Sea.

    Academic text (1995)

  • The U.S. government allows Native Americans to hunt the truly endangered bowhead whale, of which there remain approximately 8,000.

    Academic text (1994)

  • All stocks of bowhead whales are classified as "protected" by the IWC.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Requests to harvest bowhead whales have also been put forth by Canadian and Russian natives.

    Academic text (1995)

  • In the Davis Strait stock, feeding behavior was observed in bowhead whales summering in Isabella Bay, Baffin Island (Finley, 1990).

    Academic text (1995)

Synonyms

bowhead whale
vsbowhead
  • Specialized
1 6.7

A very large whale that lives in Arctic waters with a curved mouth and big body

emphasizes thick blubber and long lifespan rather than geographic range
Greenland whale
vsbowhead
6.9

A very large sea animal with a big rounded head that lives in Arctic waters

is the same species but presented as an alternative common name
Balaena mysticetus
vsbowhead
  • Specialized
9.9

A very large whale that lives in Arctic waters and filters food with plates in its mouth

uses the common English name rather than the scientific Latin term

Compounds

bowhead whale
  • Specialized
1 6.7

A very large whale that lives in Arctic waters with a curved mouth and big body

Surface Forms

bowhead singular
bowheads plural

Morphology

bowhead = bow + head (transparent) = bow + head

The compound literally describes a whale with a head shaped like a bow; a learner who knows 'bow' and 'head' can infer the meaning.

Etymology

The word bowhead comes from bow ('front of a ship') and head ('head'), so it names a whale whose very large, curved head looks like the bow of a ship.