whaling

noun

whal·​ing ˈ(h)wā-liŋ How to pronounce whaling (audio)
Synonyms of whalingnext
: the occupation of catching and extracting commercial products from whales

Examples of whaling in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The desk was made from the wood of the HMS Resolute, a British ship that became stuck in ice and abandoned before being discovered by an American whaling ship in 1855. Mark Osborne, CBS News, 29 Apr. 2026 Polar bear tourism coincides with Kaktovik’s subsistence whaling season. ABC News, 23 Apr. 2026 Prior to the 1986 global ban on commercial whaling, marine biologists estimated only around 10,000 of the marine animals still existed around the world. Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 8 Apr. 2026 The original home, a classic brick-and-clapboard New England Colonial in Edgartown’s historic downtown district, dates to 1835, when the tiny village was a major whaling port. Tori Latham, Robb Report, 2 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for whaling

Word History

First Known Use

1688, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of whaling was in 1688

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Cite this Entry

“Whaling.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whaling. Accessed 2 May. 2026.

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