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harpoon

Pronunciation: /hɑːˈpuːn/

Translate harpoon | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of harpoon

noun

  • a barbed spear-like missile attached to a long rope and thrown by hand or fired from a gun, used for catching whales and other large sea creatures.

verb

[with object]
  • spear with a harpoon: Gilbert’s father harpooned a five-metre basking shark

Derivatives

harpooner

noun

Origin:

early 17th century (denoting a barbed dart or spear): from French harpon, from harpe 'dog's claw, clamp', via Latin from Greek harpē 'sickle'

harpoon in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of harpoon in the US English dictionary

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