thresher shark

noun

Updated on: 18 Mar 2018

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

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Recent Examples of thresher shark from the Web

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
The thresher sharks are a major draw for thousands of tourists to the area and nearby Daanbantayan town.

— david doubilet, National Geographic, "Photos Reveal Ship Damage to Coral Reef in Shark Sanctuary," 23 June 2016

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.