whaling

noun

whal·​ing ˈ(h)wā-liŋ 

: the occupation of catching and extracting commercial products from whales

Examples of whaling in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Many whaling vessels also took temperature measurements in the Atlantic ocean off the US coastline, and their records were compiled by Matthew Fountaine Maury, a US naval officer and early oceanographer. —Chris Mooney, CNN Money, 15 Dec. 2025

This is something the Alaskan Inuit have known for generations — according to one account, local whaling captains have told biologists that these animals live two human lifetimes. —Ari Daniel, NPR, 24 Nov. 2025

Once a whaling port, Nantucket has become a playground for the well-heeled. —Sydney Lake, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2025

Right whales were heavily hunted until the 1960s - when the International Whaling Commission began to ban commercial whaling - and landed on the endangered species list in 1970. —N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 23 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1688, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing whaling

• anti-whaling

Rhymes for whaling

• ailing
• bailing
• baling
• failing
• flailing
• grayling
• hailing
• jailing
• mailing
• nailing
• paling
• railing