pilot whale

pilot whale

noun

Definition of PILOT WHALE

: either of two chiefly black medium-sized toothed whales (Globicephala melaena syn. G. melas and G. macrorhynchus) —called also blackfish

First Known Use of PILOT WHALE

1867

Rhymes with PILOT WHALE

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pilot whale

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Any of one to three species (genus Globicephala, family Delphinidae) of toothed whale found in all oceans except the Arctic and Antarctic, also called caa'ing whale for a roaring sound it makes when stranded. It is black, usually with a lighter splash on the throat and chest, and has a round, bulging forehead, a short beaklike snout, and slender, pointed flippers, and grows to 13–20 ft (4–6 m) long. Pilot whales live in large schools, sometimes hundreds or thousands, feeding mainly on squid. They have been kept in oceanariums and trained to perform.