English Explanatory Dictionary

killer whale

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A sea mammal related to dolphins and porpoises (Orcinus orca).

Pronunciation

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-killer whale.wav

Word forms

killer whale killer whales

Etymology

Calque or mistranslation of Spanish asesina-ballenas (“whale killer”), referring to their tendency to hunt whales. Equivalent to killer + whale.

Synonyms

grampus orc orca

Derived words

false killer whale pygmy killer whale
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on K Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary