Baleen Definition

bəlēn
noun
The horny, elastic plates that hang down in fringed, parallel columns from the upper jaw or palate of baleen whales and serve as a strainer that catches plankton while a whale is feeding; whalebone.
Webster's New World

(physiology, uncountable) The plates in the mouth of the baleen whale, Mysticeti, which it uses to trap its food; formerly used in corsetry.

Wiktionary
(zoology, countable) A baleen whale.
Wiktionary
Synonyms:

Other Word Forms of Baleen

Noun

Singular:
baleen
Plural:
baleens

Origin of Baleen

  • From Old French baleine (“whale, whalebone”), from Latin balaena (“whale”), from Ancient Greek φάλαινα (phalaina, “whale”).

    From Wiktionary

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