white whale
English
White whale (Delphinapterus leucas) at an aquarium in Thailand.
Etymology
Figurative and additional senses derive from references to Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick, in which Captain Ahab relentlessly pursues an albino sperm whale.
Noun
white whale (plural white whales)
- A cetacean, Delphinapterus leucas, found in the Arctic Ocean.
- 2007, Nancy Lord, Beluga Days: Tracking the Endangered White Whale, Prologue, pages 22-23.
- The English called the beluga the "white whale", a name often still used (and not to be confused with the white whale of Moby-Dick, which was an albino sperm whale).
- 2007, Nancy Lord, Beluga Days: Tracking the Endangered White Whale, Prologue, pages 22-23.
- (figuratively) An obsession; monomania.
- 2008, Glen Inglis, Broken Heroes, page 228
- "No. . . no sapphires. It looks like Lester Velasquez was chasing his white whale. There never were any sapphires inside that diner."
- 2010, Tom Grimes, Mentor: A Memoir, chapter 3, page 21
- Baseball would be my great white whale.
- 2008, Glen Inglis, Broken Heroes, page 228
- (trading cards) A printing plate used to manufacture a particular sports card, that is then issued as a collectible itself.
Synonyms
- (whale): beluga, beluga whale, sea canary
Translations
a cetacean, Delphinapterus leucas — see beluga
See also
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