BOWHEAD WHALE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bowhead whale mean? 

• BOWHEAD WHALE (noun)
  The noun BOWHEAD WHALE has 1 sense:

1. large-mouthed Arctic whale

  Familiarity information: BOWHEAD WHALE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BOWHEAD WHALE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Large-mouthed Arctic whale

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

Balaena mysticetus; bowhead; bowhead whale; Greenland whale

Hypernyms ("bowhead whale" is a kind of...):

baleen whale; whalebone whale (whale with plates of whalebone along the upper jaw for filtering plankton from the water)

Holonyms ("bowhead whale" is a member of...):

Balaena; genus Balaena (type genus of the Balaenidae: Greenland whales)

 Context examples 

Bowhead whales are highly efficient at digesting these lipids.

(Whales may owe their efficient digestion to millions of tiny microbes, National Science Foundation)

In the lab, Miller and her colleagues analyzed samples from bowhead whales' gastrointestinal tracts, hoping to detect changes in microbial communities and lipids throughout the gut of each whale.

(Whales may owe their efficient digestion to millions of tiny microbes, National Science Foundation)

We found that more than 80 percent of the lipids eaten by bowhead whales are wax esters, but less than 30 percent remain in the large intestine, says WHOI marine scientist Carolyn Miller, lead author of the study.

(Whales may owe their efficient digestion to millions of tiny microbes, National Science Foundation)