Illustration of blue whale
blue whale
noun
: a very large baleen whale (Balaenoptera musculus synonym Sibbaldus musculus) that may reach a weight of 150 tons (136 metric tons) and a length of 100 feet (30 meters) and is generally considered the largest living animal
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The largest one ever recorded came in at a whopping 43 feet long—nearly half the size of a blue whale. 
Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, 17 Aug. 2022 Listening to blue whale songs, Buchan realized Chile's male blue whales have a unique dialect. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 16 July 2022 Now, thanks to the advocacy of an empathetic public, species like the blue whale are beginning to repopulate. Hannah Fish, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Aug. 2022 The death of a plant or fungus, however large, may feel less wrenching than that of, say, a blue whale: an animal with a brain and a heartbeat, contained by skin and founded in bone. Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 15 Aug. 2022 Nowadays, meat is murder, plastic is poison, and manufacturing a cheap cotton T-shirt requires a two-year supply of drinking water and enough synthetic fertilizer to kill a blue whale. Adam Iscoe, The New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2022 Then, there’s the blue whale in the room: Biden’s potential plan to forgive $10,000 in loans per borrower, at a cost of $230 billion. Preston Cooper, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022 This audio clip has been sped up by 3x to highlight the sound of the blue whale. Katie Hunt, CNN, 15 July 2022 Facing the harbor, the comprehensive Husavik Whale Museum exhibits many of the species that sailors may see, including an 82-foot-long blue whale skeleton. New York Times, 3 June 2022 See More
Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, 17 Aug. 2022 Listening to blue whale songs, Buchan realized Chile's male blue whales have a unique dialect. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 16 July 2022 Now, thanks to the advocacy of an empathetic public, species like the blue whale are beginning to repopulate. Hannah Fish, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Aug. 2022 The death of a plant or fungus, however large, may feel less wrenching than that of, say, a blue whale: an animal with a brain and a heartbeat, contained by skin and founded in bone. Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 15 Aug. 2022 Nowadays, meat is murder, plastic is poison, and manufacturing a cheap cotton T-shirt requires a two-year supply of drinking water and enough synthetic fertilizer to kill a blue whale. Adam Iscoe, The New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2022 Then, there’s the blue whale in the room: Biden’s potential plan to forgive $10,000 in loans per borrower, at a cost of $230 billion. Preston Cooper, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022 This audio clip has been sped up by 3x to highlight the sound of the blue whale. Katie Hunt, CNN, 15 July 2022 Facing the harbor, the comprehensive Husavik Whale Museum exhibits many of the species that sailors may see, including an 82-foot-long blue whale skeleton. New York Times, 3 June 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1851, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
blue whale
noun
: a very large whale that is generally considered the largest living animal