foreflipper
1
7.2
A front fin that sea mammals like seals and whales use to swim and steer
- noun
- /ˈfɔrˌflɪpər/
- Specialized
:
aleta delantera
- The seal used its foreflipper to propel itself gracefully through the water.
- the left foreflipper
Examples
-
The injured seal struggled to move, dragging its tired foreflipper along the sandy beach.
-
An adult seal, bleeding from the left foreflipper, may be sunbathing to recuperate from its wounds.
Academic text (2003) -
The animal can jettison excess heat through its face, foreflippers, and hind flippers.
Academic text (2003) -
While swimming, the whale waved its large foreflippers to navigate around the rocks.
Synonyms
flipper
vsforeflipper
21
3.1
A broad flat limb that animals like seals and turtles use to swim
is the front limb specifically adapted for swimming rather than any swimming limb
4
3.9
A front part of an animal's body like a leg, wing, or flipper
is limited to front limbs of marine animals adapted for swimming
Surface Forms
foreflipper singular
foreflippers plural
Morphology
Etymology
Foreflipper puts together fore- (meaning 'front', as in forehead) and flipper (a flat limb used for swimming, like a dolphin's flipper). So a foreflipper is the front swimming limb that helps a seal or whale steer and move in the water.