whale-sharkn.(a) a very large shark, Rhinodon typicus;(b) the basking-shark (baskingadj. 2).
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the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Pleurotremata > [noun] > member of family Rhinodontidae
rhinodon1850
rhinodont1859
whale-shark1884
1884–5 Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) III. 78 The Rhinodontidæ embraces only two species of large sharks, one of which well deserves the name whale-shark, which is applied to it.