whale line

English

Alternative forms

• whaleline

Etymology

From whale +‎ line.

Noun

whale line (plural whale lines)

1. A thick rope connecting a harpoon to the line tub
   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Castaway”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

     The involuntary consternation of the moment caused him to leap, paddle in hand, out of the boat; and in such a way, that part of the slack whale line coming against his chest, he breasted it overboard with him, so as to become entangled in it, when at last plumping into the water.

References

• “whale line”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.