noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A kind of cargo steamship with a hull that continuously curves above the waterline from vertical to horizontal. historical
2. 2
   A landform (typically a sand dune) having the form of the back of a whale.

Etymology

* whale + back. * (ship): From its whale-like appearance when fully loaded.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.