B1verb · intransitive · common

whale

whale · whales · whaled · whaling

To hunt for whalesTo hunt for whales.

ⓘ

UK/ˈwɛj(ə)l/US/ˈweɪl/

» Have you ever seen a whale?

Hast du schon mal einen Wal gesehen? — xtofu80

Ты когда-нибудь видел кита? — marafon

Ты когда-нибудь видела кита? — Selena777

Вы когда-нибудь видели кита? — Selena777

Ти колись бачив кита? — aandrusiak

Ви коли-небудь бачили кита? — deniko

CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR

Meaning

2 senses

(intransitive)To hunt for whales.
hunt for whales
(slang, transitive)To thrash, to flog, to beat vigorously or soundly.
For quotations using this term, see Citations:whale.
verhauen

Examples

235 sentences

Have you ever seen a whale?
Ти колись бачив кита? — aandrusiak
ruТы когда-нибудь видел кита? — marafon
deHast du schon mal einen Wal gesehen? — xtofu80
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on Tatoeba Report a problem
I've never seen a live whale.
Я ніколи не бачив живого кита. — deniko
ruНикогда не видел живого кита. — odexed
deIch habe noch nie einen lebenden Wal gesehen. — xtofu80
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on Tatoeba Report a problem
Dolphins and whales are not fish.
Детьфіни та кити не риби. — deniko
ruДельфины и киты не рыбы. — sharptoothed
deDelfine und Wale sind keine Fische. — kolonjano
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on Tatoeba Report a problem
Tom thinks whales are worth saving.
Том вважає, що кити заслуговують на порятунок. — deniko
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on Tatoeba Report a problem
I've never seen a real whale.
Я ніколи не бачив справжнього кита. — Balamax
ruЯ никогда не видел настоящего кита. — Balamax
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on Tatoeba Report a problem

Origin

From Middle English whal, whale, from Old English hwæl (“whale”), from Proto-West Germanic

From Middle English whal, whale, from Old English hwæl (“whale”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwal, from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz (“whale”) (compare German Wal, Swedish val, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hval, Norwegian Nynorsk kval; compare also Dutch walvis, West Frisian walfisk, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷálos (“sheatfish”) (compare German Wels, Latin squalus (“big sea fish”), Old Prussian kalis, Ancient Greek ἄσπαλος (áspalos), Avestan 𐬐𐬀𐬭𐬀 (kara, “kind of fish”)).

Uncertain. Perhaps a variant of wale influenced by whack, whap, etc.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

whales, whaling, whaled, whaled

Base form	whale · to whale
3rd person singular	whales
Present participle	whaling
Past simple	whaled
Past participle	whaled

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, they	whale
he, she, it	whales

Past simpleLesson

all persons

whaled

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, they	have whaled
he, she, it	has whaled

Future simple (will)Lesson

all persons

will whale

Phrasal verbs

2 phrasal verbs

Word family

3 related words

Relatedwhaler

Derivedwhale away whale on

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle

Collocations

5 patterns

see any whales
any whales today
whale meat
any whales
whales today