baleen whale

noun

: any of a suborder (Mysticeti) of usually large whales typically of colder waters that lack teeth but have baleen plates in the upper jaw which are used to filter chiefly small crustaceans (such as krill) out of large quantities of seawater see fin whale, gray whale, humpback whale, right whale, rorqual compare toothed whale

Examples of baleen whale in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

An investigation into the effects of climate change on baleen whale distribution in the British Isles. —Donna Sarkar, Discover Magazine, 28 June 2024

Whales are a part of the cetacean family, which is divided into two groups: baleen whales (which don't have teeth) and toothed whales. —Olivia Munson, USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2024

North Pacific right whales are baleen whales that can grow to be 64 feet long and 70 years old if left alone. —Julia Daye, Sacramento Bee, 28 May 2024

North Pacific right whales are baleen whales, which feed by straining huge volumes of ocean water through their comb-like baleen plates that trap copepods and other zooplankton. —Lisa M. Krieger, The Mercury News, 27 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1874, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

baleen whale

noun

: any of various usually large whales lacking teeth but having baleen for filtering small ocean animals (as krill) out of seawater compare toothed whale