v. t. [ Cf. whap blow. ] To confound; to terrify; to amaze. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a very boastful and talkative person.
Syn. -- braggart, boaster, line-shooter, vaunter. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. to lie in ambush for, lie in wait for.
Syn. -- ambush, scupper, lie for, waylay, lurk, ambuscade. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. i. 1. to live in the bush as a fugitive or as a guerilla. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. to cut one's way through the woods or bush. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. One accustomed to beat about, or travel through, bushes. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

They were gallant bushwhackers, and hunters of raccoons by moonlight. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A guerrilla; a marauding assassin; one who pretends to be a peaceful citizen, but secretly harasses a hostile force or its sympathizers. [ U.S. ] Farrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Traveling, or working a way, through bushes; pulling by the bushes, as in hauling a boat along the bushy margin of a stream. [ U.S. ] T. Flint. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The crimes or warfare of bushwhackers. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Hind. kawānch, koānch. ] (Bot.) A leguminous climbing plant of the genus Mucuna, having crooked pods covered with sharp hairs, which stick to the fingers, causing intolerable itching. The spiculæ are sometimes used in medicine as a mechanical vermifuge. [ Written also couhage, cowage, and cowitch. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

(Zool.), a rather large and swift baleen whale of the northern Pacific (Eschrichtius robustus, formerly Rhachianectes glaucus), having short jaws and no dorsal fin; -- called also grayback, devilfish, and hardhead. It grows to a length of 50 feet (sometimes 60 feet). It was formerly taken in large numbers in the bays of California, and is now rare. It lives up to 50 or 60 years and adults weigh from 20 to 40 tons. [ 1913 Webster + PJC ]

v. i. [ Of imitative origin. ] To laugh boisterously. [ Colloq. U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

We haw-haw'd, I tell you, for more than half an hour. Major Jack Downing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the humpback{ 3 }. [ PJC ]

prop. n. The Kanawha River, a tributary of the Ohio River.
Syn. -- Kanawha River. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. see killer{ 2 }. [ PJC ]

n. A shrub or small tree (Sophora tetraptera) of New Zealand and Chile having pendulous racemes of tubular golden-yellow flowers; it yields a hard strong wood.
Syn. -- Sophora tetraptera. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. For the most part. [ Obs. ] “All the rest do mostwhat far amiss.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Nearly; almost; much. [ Obs. ] “Muchwhat after the same manner.” Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Sw. or Dan. narvhal; akin to Icel. nāhvalr, and E. whale. the first syllable is perh. from Icel. nār corpse, dead body, in allusion to the whitish color its skin. See Whale. ] [ Written also narwhale and narwal. ] (Zool.) An arctic cetacean (Monodon monocerous), about twenty feet long. The male usually has one long, twisted, pointed canine tooth, or tusk, projecting forward from the upper jaw like a horn, whence it is called also sea unicorn, unicorn fish, and unicorn whale. Sometimes two horns are developed, side by side. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Zool.) (a) The bowhead, Arctic, or Greenland whale (Balaena mysticetus), from whose mouth the best whalebone is obtained. (b) Any other whale that produces valuable whalebone, as the Atlantic, or Biscay, right whale (Balaena cisarctica), and the Pacific right whale (Balaena Sieboldii); a bone whale. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pygmy right whale (Zool.), a small New Zealand whale (Neobalaena marginata) which is only about sixteen feet long. It produces short, but very elastic and tough, whalebone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Slang + whang to beat. ] One who uses abusive slang; a ranting partisan. [ Colloq. or Humorous ] W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. More or less; a certain quantity or degree; a part, more or less; something. [ 1913 Webster ]

These salts have somewhat of a nitrous taste. Grew. [ 1913 Webster ]

Somewhat of his good sense will suffer, in this transfusion, and much of the beauty of his thoughts will be lost. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A person or thing of importance; a somebody. [ 1913 Webster ]

Here come those that worship me.
They think that I am somewhat. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In some degree or measure; a little. [ 1913 Webster ]

His giantship is gone, somewhat crestfallen. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Somewhat back from the village street. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Zool.) A very large toothed whale (Physeter macrocephalus), having a head of enormous size. The upper jaw is destitute of teeth. In the upper part of the head, above the skull, there is a large cavity, or case, filled with oil and spermaceti. This whale sometimes grows to the length of more than eighty feet. It is found in the warmer parts of all the oceans. Called also cachalot, and spermaceti whale. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pygmy sperm whale (Zool.), a small whale (Kogia breviceps), seldom twenty feet long, native of tropical seas, but occasionally found on the American coast. Called also snub-nosed cachalot. --
Sperm-whale porpoise (Zool.), a toothed cetacean (Hyperoodon bidens), found on both sides of the Atlantic and valued for its oil. The adult becomes about twenty-five feet long, and its head is very large and thick. Called also bottle-nosed whale. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The whimbrel. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ So called from one of its notes. ] (Zool.) (a) The European curlew; -- called also awp, whaup, great whaup, and stock whaup. (b) The whimbrel; -- called also May whaup, little whaup, and tang whaup. [ Prov. Eng. & Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Any object whose name is forgotten, or not known. [ Also spelled whatchamacallit. ]
Syn. -- thingumbob, doohickey, dingus, whatsis, what-do-you-call-it. [ PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Whacked p. pr. & vb. n. Whacking. ] [ Cf. Thwack. ] 1. To strike; to beat; to give a heavy or resounding blow to; to thrash; to make with whacks. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Rodsmen were whackingtheir way through willow brakes. G. W. Cable. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To divide into shares; as, to whack the spoils of a robbery; -- often with up. [ Slang ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. i. To strike anything with a smart blow. [ 1913 Webster ]

To whack away, to continue striking heavy blows; as, to whack away at a log. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A smart resounding blow. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A portion; share; allowance. [ Slang ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

3. an attempt; as, to take a whack at it. [ Colloq. ] [ PJC ]

--
Out of whack, out of order. [ Slang ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. One who whacks. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Anything very large; specif., a great lie; a whopper. [ Colloq. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Very large; whapping. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. to sever with a blow; to cut off. [ PJC ]

v. i. to masturbate. [ Vulgar ] [ PJC ]

n. (Bot.) An American tree, the winged elm. (Ulmus alata). [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Whaled p. pr. & vb. n. Whaling. ] [ Cf. Wale. ] To lash with stripes; to wale; to thrash; to drub. [ Prov. Eng. & Colloq. U. S. ] Halliwell. Bartlett. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. whal, AS. hwæl; akin to D. walvisch, G. wal, walfisch, OHG. wal, Icel. hvalr, Dan. & Sw. hval, hvalfisk. Cf. Narwhal, Walrus. ] (Zool.) Any aquatic mammal of the order Cetacea, especially any one of the large species, some of which become nearly one hundred feet long. Whales are hunted chiefly for their oil and baleen, or whalebone. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The existing whales are divided into two groups: the toothed whales (Odontocete), including those that have teeth, as the cachalot, or sperm whale (see Sperm whale); and the baleen, or whalebone, whales (Mysticete), comprising those that are destitute of teeth, but have plates of baleen hanging from the upper jaw, as the right whales. The most important species of whalebone whales are the bowhead, or Greenland, whale (see Illust. of Right whale), the Biscay whale, the Antarctic whale, the gray whale (see under Gray), the humpback, the finback, and the rorqual. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whale bird. (Zool.) (a) Any one of several species of large Antarctic petrels which follow whaling vessels, to feed on the blubber and floating oil; especially, Prion turtur (called also blue petrel), and Pseudoprion desolatus. (b) The turnstone; -- so called because it lives on the carcasses of whales. [ Canada ] --
Whale fin (Com.), whalebone. Simmonds. --
Whale fishery, the fishing for, or occupation of taking, whales. --
Whale louse (Zool.), any one of several species of degraded amphipod crustaceans belonging to the genus Cyamus, especially Cyamus ceti. They are parasitic on various cetaceans. --
Whale's bone, ivory. [ Obs. ] --
Whale shark. (Zool.) (a) The basking, or liver, shark. (b) A very large harmless shark (Rhinodon typicus) native of the Indian Ocean. It sometimes becomes sixty feet long. --
Whale shot, the name formerly given to spermaceti. --
Whale's tongue (Zool.), a balanoglossus. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Naut.) A form of vessel, often with steam power, having sharp ends and a very convex upper deck, much used on the Great Lakes, esp. for carrying grain. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Naut.) A long, narrow boat, sharp at both ends, used by whalemen. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A firm, elastic substance resembling horn, taken from the upper jaw of the right whale; baleen. It is used as a stiffening in stays, fans, screens, and for various other purposes. See Baleen. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Whalebone is chiefly obtained from the bowhead, or Greenland, whale, the Biscay whale, and the Antarctic, or southern, whale. It is prepared for manufacture by being softened by boiling, and dyed black. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Whalemen A man employed in the whale fishery. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A vessel or person employed in the whale fishery. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who whales, or beats; a big, strong fellow; hence, anything of great or unusual size. [ Colloq. U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The hunting of whales. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or employed in, the pursuit of whales; as, a whaling voyage; a whaling vessel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Wall-eye. ] A light color of the iris in horses; wall-eye. [ Written also whaul. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having the iris of light color; -- said of horses. “Whally eyes.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A breeze fly. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Cf. Whelm. ] To turn over. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. When. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Thong. ] A leather thong. [ Prov. Eng. & Colloq. U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To beat; thrash; bang; also, to throw, hurl, or fling about, violently. [ Scot. & Dial. Eng. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. To slice, esp. in large pieces; to chop. [ Scot. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. A blow; whack. [ Dial. or Colloq. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. A large piece or slice; chunk. [ Scot. & Dial. Eng. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

3. Formerly, a house-cleaning party. [ Local, U. S. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]