thresher shark

noun

Definition of thresher shark

: 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

Recent Examples on the Web

But state shark expert Greg Skomal said the thresher sharks like the four that have been found dead in Wellfleet and Orleans in recent days probably aren’t literally freezing to death. — Dialynn Dwyer, BostonGlobe.com, "Why have frozen sharks been washing up on the Cape?," 4 Jan. 2018 The conservancy said a fourth thresher shark was found in an ice pack off Wellfleet on New Year’s Eve. — Dialynn Dwyer, BostonGlobe.com, "Why have frozen sharks been washing up on the Cape?," 4 Jan. 2018 June Mako Mania: Mako shark tournament for bluefish and thresher sharks. — baltimoresun.com, "Ocean City 2018 calendar of events," 11 May 2018 The California driftnet fishery targets swordfish and common thresher shark. — Sarah Gibbens, National Geographic, "Shocking Video Shows Impacts of Controversial Fishing Method," 27 Apr. 2018 There are images of his 296-pound yellowfin tuna, the thresher shark landed off of Oceanside and the 6-pound brown trout coaxed from Hot Creek in the shadow of the Eastern Sierra. — Bryce Miller, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Meet Kevin Mattson, the most fished-crazed person in San Diego," 2 Mar. 2018 Based on satellite tagging information, experts know that many thresher sharks have already moved south for the season. — Kelli Bender, PEOPLE.com, "Massachusetts Waters Are so Cold Sharks Are Freezing to Death," 8 Jan. 2018 Along Cape Cod, three thresher sharks have washed up frozen since Wednesday. — CBS News, "Big Apple ball drop is on as brutally cold weather ices plans in Northeast," 30 Dec. 2017 Warming temperatures and loss of oxygen in the sea will shrink hundreds of fish species—from tunas and groupers to salmon, thresher sharks, haddock and cod—even more than previously thought, a new study concludes. — Craig Welch, National Geographic, "Climate Change May Shrink the World’s Fish," 21 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'thresher shark.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about thresher shark

Dictionary Entries near thresher shark

threshing floor

threshing machine

Statistics for thresher shark

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for thresher shark

The first known use of thresher shark was in 1888

See more words from the same year

Comments on thresher shark

What made you want to look up thresher shark? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

WORD OF THE DAY

adjudicate

to settle judicially or to act as judge

Test Your Vocabulary

Homophone Quiz

In order to judge how people felt, the senator's office hired a firm to take a ______.

pol poal
pole poll

Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

TAKE THE QUIZ

SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games