Definitions
The flexible plates in some whales used to filter food from water.
Word origin
From Middle English baleyne, from Old French baleine (“whale, whalebone”), from Latin balaena (“whale”), from Ancient Greek φάλαινα (phálaina, “whale”).
Used in a sentence
““You have probably never seen anything like this before, Mr. Toler. It is baleen, or if you prefer it, whalebone, taken from the mouth of the bowhead whale. It is used by the whale to filter its food.””
“Scammon estimates the number of baleens killed in the years 1835-72 at 131,000; once again, his figure needs to be adjusted.”
“The Balene is a fishe great and huge, much like to the Whale, and is so called, because of his outcasting and shedding of water, for they throwe water higher then other great fishes of the sea.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Whale filter material”6 letters
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