baleen whale

noun

: any of a suborder (Mysticeti) of usually large whales typically of colder waters that lack teeth but have baleen plates in the upper jaw which are used to filter chiefly small crustaceans (such as krill) out of large quantities of seawater see fin whale, gray whale, humpback whale, right whale, rorqual compare toothed whale

Examples of baleen whale in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There were also die-offs of seals, sea lions and marine birds, Leising said, probably from a combination of a lack of food and harmful algal blooms, and less food out there for baleen whales. —Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2026

Seals, sea lions, baleen whales and seabirds all experienced die-offs, likely because of a lack of food and an increase in toxins from algal blooms, Leising said. —Evan Bush, NBC news, 11 June 2026

Many small baleen whales disappeared, and other cetaceans moved elsewhere. —Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026

Fin whales are the fastest baleen whale in the world, an endangered species that can weigh between 40 and 80 tons. —Laylan Connelly, Oc Register, 14 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1874, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for baleen whale

• abigail
• cottontail
• countervail
• fingernail
• martingale
• mesoscale
• microscale
• monorail
• nanoscale
• ponytail
• swallowtail
• wensleydale

Kids Definition

baleen whale

noun

: any of various usually large whales lacking teeth but having baleen for filtering small ocean animals (as krill) out of seawater compare toothed whale