white whale

noun

1

: beluga sense 2

2

or less commonly great white whale : something (such as a goal or object) that is obsessively pursued

It was the old man's white whale, the holy grail shining at the end of the dream, on and off the rails, as he chased scripts, directors, and movie stars of the proper magnitude.

—Rich Cohen

For drug makers, developing the first Alzheimer's therapy has long been seen as the great white whale: the toughest challenge and biggest opportunity.

—Robert Weisman

Illustration of white whale

• white whale 1

Examples of white whale in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In 2022, Preller landed a white whale; Juan Soto, in San Diego, turned out to be more above-average than extraordinary. —Dennis Lin, New York Times, 26 July 2025

Cornyn finds himself down by double digits in numerous polls to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), sparking fears among the GOP that Democrats have a real opening to nab a white whale: a Senate seat in Texas. —Al Weaver, The Hill, 19 July 2025

Finding the liberal Joe Rogan became high-dollar Democrats’ white whale after losing the 2024 presidential election, but this week, the party suffered setbacks with two reliable media mouthpieces. —W. James Antle Iii, The Washington Examiner, 18 July 2025

The tragedy claimed over 1,500 lives out of the 2,200 crew members and passengers on board, including a Cincinnati salesman who brought three living white whales, or belugas, to the Queen City in 1877. —Kaycee Sloan, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

(sense 2) after the white sperm whale obsessively hunted by Captain Ahab in Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick (1851)

First Known Use

1635, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for white whale

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