like a whale
1
9.6
- idiom
- Informal
:
como una ballena
- Cleansing myself, I wallowed like a whale.
- look like a whale
Examples
-
The creature slides toward them, pushing through the earth like a whale through water.
Fiction book (1990) -
"John rose up like a whale breaching."
Fiction book (1991) -
I look like a whale.
-
The room was furnished simply: a table and chair, its back to the fireplace in the corner, one window giving a constant view of the little mountain that looked like a whale.
Fiction book (2000) -
She was much faster than he was, however, and she evaded him easily as he chased her around the pool; it looked like a whale chasing a dolphin.
Fiction book (1991) -
"Frike took an oil lamp and bent nearly double, with his cane tapping ahead of him and his hump standing up like a whale surfacing. He walked to the stairs, followed by Babriel.
Fiction book (1991) -
She imagined herself in rubber boots, standing on his pallid, hairless body, cutting him up in thick strips like a whale and poling the pieces across the kitchen linoleum to get the body out the door.
Fiction book (1991) -
He closes his teeth against the knocking of his heart and idles behind her, the wide-body Chevy wallowing like a whale in the shallows as he leans across the seat to roll down.
Fiction book (2000) -
He tried to dance, but he moved like a whale on the floor.
-
When he attempted to sing high notes, he sounded like a whale out of water.
Synonyms
38
2.7
In a clumsy or uncomfortable way, often showing nervousness around other people
12
2.8
In an awkward way that shows little skill or control
1
7.0
Move or speak in an awkward, unsteady way as if about to fall
In a clumsy way that causes problems
In a clumsy, hesitant way when someone moves or speaks
To move clumsily and unsteadily, like a new skater
In a clumsy or awkward way
Antonyms
How Clumsy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The string is a simple simile (like + noun) so a learner who knows 'like' and 'whale' can infer a similarity; however the specific interpretation 'clumsy/awkward' requires world knowledge that a very large aquatic mammal would be ungainly in human movement. Because the attribute (clumsiness) is a metaphorical inference rather than a directly compositional meaning, the expression is only partially predictable to B1 learners.
Etymology
Like a whale may come from the picture of a huge sea animal stranded on land, trying to move and looking slow and awkward. That's why people use like a whale to mean someone moves or sings in a 'clumsy' or 'unskilled' way.