bowhead whale
1
6.7
- noun
- /ˈboʊˌhɛd weɪl/
- Specialized
:
ballena franca
- Clearly, bowhead whale stocks are slow to recover, and some might not recover at all.
- harvest bowhead whales
- bowhead whale stock
- bowhead whale population
Because I had heard that bowhead whales don't age.
- Because I had heard that bowhead whales don't age.
Examples
-
All stocks of bowhead whales are classified as "protected" by the IWC.
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) -
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) -
Little is known of the migration patterns of bowhead whales found in the northern Barents Sea.
Academic text (1995) -
The IWC is the primary body responsible for the conservation and management of bowhead whale populations worldwide.
Academic text (1995) -
Most village residents participate in fall whaling when bowhead whales pass near the Arctic coast to return to the Pacific Ocean.
Academic text (2007) -
There has been some difficulty in assessing the historical distribution and abundance of bowhead whales in the Okhotsk Sea.
Academic text (1995) -
Currently, bowhead whales in the Bering Sea are classified as a "strategic stock" under the amended MMPA.
Academic text (1995) -
Scientists are conducting research to understand the behavior of bowhead whales during their annual migrations in the Arctic.
Synonyms
809
1.0
A very large sea animal with a blowhole for breathing
3
7.9
A large animal that lives in the sea, like a whale or dolphin
1
9.3
A large Arctic whale with a big curved head and thick layer of fat
1
5.6
A large whale with plates in its mouth that filter tiny sea animals
A very large whale that lives in Arctic waters and filters food with plates in its mouth
A very large sea animal with a big rounded head that lives in Arctic waters
A group of large whales with baleen plates that includes the bowhead and right whale
A large whale that uses thin, brush-like plates in its mouth to filter tiny sea animals from water
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun is a straightforward compound: 'bowhead' (a descriptive head-shape/localized Arctic whale term) plus 'whale' yields a type of whale, so the overall meaning is directly derivable from its parts. This follows common noun+noun species-naming patterns (e.g., 'blue whale', 'sperm whale') and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
The compound noun bowhead whale comes from the shape of the animal's head: the front of its head looks like the bow of a ship, so people put together bow and head. That's why the name means 'a very large whale with a bow-shaped head'.