thresher shark
noun
: a large nearly cosmopolitan shark (Alopias vulpinus) that has a greatly elongated curved upper lobe of the tail which is often used to thresh the water to round up the schooling fish on which it feeds see shark illustration
Examples of thresher shark in a Sentence
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Once made official, this would shatter the state record for thresher shark, the mark was set in 2006 by Mark Hiller at 467 pounds, according to the DEEP saltwater state fish record book.
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Sean Krofssik, Hartford Courant, 4 Aug. 2025
On New Year’s Day, the body of a male 4.25m (13.9 feet) thresher shark washed up on Par Sands Beach in Cornwall, shocking locals.
—Melissa Cristina Marquez, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
Photos show the dead thresher shark and its distinctive tail.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 3 Jan. 2025
In April 2020, researchers documented a case of a dead female thresher shark that washed up on the Libyan coast with part of a swordfish's bill still lodged in its body.
—Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY, 24 Oct. 2024
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Sean Krofssik, Hartford Courant, 4 Aug. 2025
On New Year’s Day, the body of a male 4.25m (13.9 feet) thresher shark washed up on Par Sands Beach in Cornwall, shocking locals.
—Melissa Cristina Marquez, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
Photos show the dead thresher shark and its distinctive tail.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 3 Jan. 2025
In April 2020, researchers documented a case of a dead female thresher shark that washed up on the Libyan coast with part of a swordfish's bill still lodged in its body.
—Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY, 24 Oct. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Thresher shark.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thresher%20shark. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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