whalehit, beat, strike hard: whale away at the bully; a very large cetaceanNot to be confused with:wail ? moan or lament; to cry loudly: The toddler is sure to wail when his mother leaves.Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embreewhale 1 (w?l, hw?l)n.1. a. Any of various marine mammals of the order Cetacea; a cetacean.b. Any of various larger members of this order, including the blue whale, humpback whale, and right whale, in contrast to the porpoises and dolphins.2. Informal An impressive example: a whale of a story.intr.v. whaled, whal·ing, whales To engage in the hunting of whales.[Middle English, from Old English hwæl.]whale 2 (w?l, hw?l)v. whaled, whal·ing, whales v.tr.1. To strike or hit repeatedly and forcefully; thrash.2. To strike or hit (a ball) with great force.v.intr.1. To strike or hit a person or thing repeatedly and forcefully: whaled away at the plaster wall with a mallet.2. To swing at a ball with great effort, especially repeatedly.3. To attack vehemently: The poet whaled away at the critics.[Origin unknown.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.whale (we?l) n, pl whales or whale1. (Animals) any of the larger cetacean mammals, excluding dolphins, porpoises, and narwhals. They have flippers, a streamlined body, and a horizontally flattened tail and breathe through a blowhole on the top of the head. 2. (Animals) any cetacean mammal. See also toothed whale, whalebone whale3. (Gambling, except Cards) slang a gambler who has the capacity to win and lose large sums of money in a casino4. a whale of a informal an exceptionally large, fine, etc, example of a (person or thing): we had a whale of a time on holiday. [Old English hwæl; related to Old Saxon, Old High German hwal, Old Norse hvalr, Latin squalus seapig]whale (we?l) vb (tr) to beat or thrash soundly[C18: variant of wale1]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014whale1 (?we?l, we?l) n., pl. whales, (esp. collectively) whale, n. 1. any of the larger marine mammals of the order Cetacea, esp. as distinguished from the smaller dolphins, having a fishlike body, forelimbs modified into flippers, and a horizontally flattened head. 2. something big, great, or fine of its kind: I had a whale of a time in Europe. 3. (cap.) the constellation Cetus. v.i. 4. to engage in whaling or whale fishing. [before 900; Middle English; Old English hwæl, c. Old High German wal, Old Norse hvalr] whale2 (?we?l, we?l) v.t., v.i. whaled, whal?ing. to hit, thrash, or beat soundly. [1780?90; orig. uncertain] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.whale (w?l) Any of various, often large sea mammals that have a streamlined body resembling that of a fish, forelimbs shaped like flippers, a tail with horizontal flukes, and one or two blowholes for breathing. The mouths of whales are toothed or contain baleen.Did You Know? In a submarine, you can ride down thousands of feet underwater. But if you swam outside it, the water pressure would crush you like a soda can. Amazingly, there are many animals that happily exist in such conditions. The sperm whale, for instance, may dive as deep as two miles with no ill effects. A male sperm whale is like a living tractor-trailer truck, almost 60 feet long and weighing 45 tons. Many adaptations allow the huge creature, and other deep-sea organisms, to function normally at great depths. One important strength is actually a weakness: unlike our rigid ribs, the whale’s flexible ribcage allows its chest cavity to collapse in a controlled way as the pressure increases. Other adaptations control the way gases are stored in the blood. Unlike people, whales do not have to return to the surface gradually to avoid getting the bends?the sometimes deadly formation of nitrogen bubbles caused by expanding gas in the blood. Because of this adaptation, whales can swim up and down as fast as they like, undergoing tremendous variation in pressure, with no ill effects. It’s all just water to them.The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.whalePast participle: whaledGerund: whalingImperativePresentPreteritePresent ContinuousPresent PerfectPast ContinuousPast PerfectFutureFuture PerfectFuture ContinuousPresent Perfect ContinuousFuture Perfect ContinuousPast Perfect ContinuousConditionalPast ConditionalImperativewhalewhalePresentI whaleyou whalehe/she/it whaleswe whaleyou whalethey whalePreteriteI whaledyou whaledhe/she/it whaledwe whaledyou whaledthey whaledPresent ContinuousI am whalingyou are whalinghe/she/it is whalingwe are whalingyou are whalingthey are whalingPresent PerfectI have whaledyou have whaledhe/she/it has whaledwe have whaledyou have whaledthey have whaledPast ContinuousI was whalingyou were whalinghe/she/it was whalingwe were whalingyou were whalingthey were whalingPast PerfectI had whaledyou had whaledhe/she/it had whaledwe had whaledyou had whaledthey had whaledFutureI will whaleyou will whalehe/she/it will whalewe will whaleyou will whalethey will whaleFuture PerfectI will have whaledyou will have whaledhe/she/it will have whaledwe will have whaledyou will have whaledthey will have whaledFuture ContinuousI will be whalingyou will be whalinghe/she/it will be whalingwe will be whalingyou will be whalingthey will be whalingPresent Perfect ContinuousI have been whalingyou have been whalinghe/she/it has been whalingwe have been whalingyou have been whalingthey have been whalingFuture Perfect ContinuousI will have been whalingyou will have been whalinghe/she/it will have been whalingwe will have been whalingyou will have been whalingthey will have been whalingPast Perfect ContinuousI had been whalingyou had been whalinghe/she/it had been whalingwe had been whalingyou had been whalingthey had been whalingConditionalI would whaleyou would whalehe/she/it would whalewe would whaleyou would whalethey would whalePast ConditionalI would have whaledyou would have whaledhe/she/it would have whaledwe would have whaledyou would have whaledthey would have whaledCollins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011