harpoon

Word family

har·poon /hɑːˈpuːn $ hɑːr-/ noun [countableC]

PMWTAa weapon used for hunting whales 捕鲸叉

—harpoon verb [transitiveT]

Examples from the Corpus

harpoon• It involved using a cannon to fire a harpoon carrying an explosive grenade.• Seabury nevertheless decided to tackle it, and thrust a harpoon deep into the creature's neck.• Trondur had hurried forward to fetch his biggest harpoon which he kept strapped across the bows.• The crotch is a notched stick which holds both harpoons.• The dolphins and porpoises are hunted either with hand harpoons or in drive fisheries.• The carpenter and blacksmith hurriedly fashion a new one, and Ahab has a new harpoon fashioned from the finest iron.• The steam-powered harpoon appeared in 1864.• Two harpoons are usually thrown in quick succession.

Origin harpoon

(1600-1700) Probably from Dutch harpoen, from Old French harpon “fastener”

har·poon noun

Chinese

Syllable

Corpus