whale-finn.
/ˈweɪlfɪn/, U.S. /ˈ(h)weɪlˌfɪn/ ? Obsolete.
Whalebone, formerly supposed to be the fin of the whale.
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the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > suborder Mystacoceti > [noun] > member of > whalebone and surrounding parts
whale-horn1562
whalebone1604
whale-fin1612
blade1803
whalebone-hair1820
1612 Bk. Customs & Valuation in A. Halyburton Ledger (1867) 332 Whale fin the fin, xl s.
1614 S. Purchas Pilgrimage (ed. 2) iv. xvii. 433 The Inhabitantes holde trade with other Samoeds..for..Beauers, Downe, Whales-Finnes.
1741 Daily Post 11 Apr. 1/3 On Tuesday was imported..from Holland 9 C. Whale-fins.
1809 E. A. Kendall Trav. Northern Parts U.S. II. lii. 207 By whale-fin has always been meant the barb, from which the whale-bone is really obtained.
1820 W. Scoresby Acct. Arctic Regions II. 415 Whale-bone, or whale-fins, as the substance is sometimes, though incorrectly named.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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