ORCA

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does orca mean? 

• ORCA (noun)
  The noun ORCA has 1 sense:

1. predatory black-and-white toothed whale with large dorsal fin; common in cold seas

  Familiarity information: ORCA used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ORCA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Predatory black-and-white toothed whale with large dorsal fin; common in cold seas

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

grampus; killer; killer whale; orca; Orcinus orca; sea wolf

Hypernyms ("orca" is a kind of...):

dolphin (any of various small toothed whales with a beaklike snout; larger than porpoises)

Holonyms ("orca" is a member of...):

genus Orcinus; Orcinus (killer whales)

 Context examples 

The great white shark and orca are the only species known to eat adult sevengills.

(Study indicates as great white shark disappears, living fossil moves in, Wikinews)

The researchers noted the sevengill sharks might not have the same effect on the ecosystems involved as the great whites have had, citing the ecological disruption apparently caused off Alaska when a change in orca behavior had a knock-on effect, disrupting sea otters' predation of sea urchins, whose population then exploded, plowing through the area's kelp forests.

(Study indicates as great white shark disappears, living fossil moves in, Wikinews)