Phrase guide

whale shark

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /weɪl.ʃɑːk/
  • /weɪ.əl.ʃɑːk/ pre-l breaking
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1

noun

Meaning 1

A very large spotted shark, Rhincodon typus, of warm marine waters, similar to a whale, that feeds by filtering plankton from the water.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

large spotted shark of warm surface waters worldwide; resembles a whale and feeds chiefly on plankton

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Rhincodon typus

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: shark

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

37 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Central Bikol: butanding — Rhincodon typus
  • Bulgarian: к акула (k akula) — Rhincodon typus
  • Catalan: tauró balena — Rhincodon typus
  • Cebuano: butanding — Rhincodon typus
  • Chinese Mandarin: 鯨鯊 /鲸鲨 (jīngshā) — Rhincodon typus
  • Danish: hvalhaj — Rhincodon typus
  • Dhivehi: ފެހުރިހި (fehurihi) — Rhincodon typus
  • Dutch: walvishaai — Rhincodon typus
  • Finnish: valashai — Rhincodon typus
  • French: requin-baleine — Rhincodon typus
  • Galician: tiburón balea — Rhincodon typus
  • German: Walhai — Rhincodon typus
  • Greek: φαλαινοκαρχαρίας (falainokarcharías) — Rhincodon typus
  • Hungarian: cetcápa — Rhincodon typus
  • Irish: míolsiorc — Rhincodon typus
  • Italian: squalo balena — Rhincodon typus
  • Japanese: 甚兵衛鮫 (jinbēzame) — Rhincodon typus
  • Korean: 고래상어 (goraesang'eo) — Rhincodon typus
  • Malagasy: marokintana — Rhincodon typus
  • Mongolian: халиман аварга загас (xaliman avarga zagas) — Rhincodon typus
  • Mongolian: халиман дулан (xaliman dulan) — Rhincodon typus
  • Mongolian: ᠬᠠᠯᠢᠮᠤᠨ ᠠᠪᠤᠷᠭᠤ ᠵᠢᠭᠠᠰᠤ (qalimun aburgu ǰiɣasu) — Rhincodon typus
  • Mongolian: ᠬᠠᠯᠢᠮᠤᠨ ᠳᠤᠯᠠᠨ (qalimun dulan) — Rhincodon typus
  • Navajo: łóóʼntsxaaí łikizhígíí — Rhincodon typus
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hvalhai — Rhincodon typus
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kvalhai — Rhincodon typus
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kvalhai — Rhincodon typus
  • Polish: rekin wielorybi — Rhincodon typus
  • Portuguese: tubarão-baleia — Rhincodon typus
  • Russian: кито́вая аку́ла (kitóvaja akúla) — Rhincodon typus
  • Spanish: tiburón ballena — Rhincodon typus
  • Swedish: valhaj — Rhincodon typus
  • Tagalog: butanding — Rhincodon typus
  • Tagalog: isdangtuko — Rhincodon typus
  • Thai: ฉลามวาฬ (chà-lǎam-waan) — Rhincodon typus
  • Turkish: balina köpek balığı — Rhincodon typus
  • Welsh: morgi morfilaidd — Rhincodon typus