harpoon

[hahr-poon] /hɑrˈpun/
noun
1.
a barbed, spearlike missile attached to a rope, and thrown by hand or shot from a gun, used for killing and capturing whales and large fish.
2.
(initial capital letter) Military. a jet-powered, radar-guided U.S. Navy cruise missile with a high explosive warhead designed for use against surface ships and launchable from a surface vessel, submerged submarine, or aircraft.
verb (used with object)
3.
to strike, catch, or kill with or as if with a harpoon.
Origin
1590-1600; < Dutch harpoen ≪ Old French harpon a clasp, brooch, equivalent to harp- (< Latin harpē < Greek: hook) + -on diminutive suffix
Related forms
harpooner, noun
harpoonlike, adjective
Examples from the web for harpoon
  • The earliest records of his presence reveal him as a fisher and hunter, with rude flint-pointed spear and harpoon.
  • Four centuries ago locals made breakthroughs in harpoon technology and the use of nets to slow down migrating whales.
  • People used to harpoon three-meter long swordfish in rowboats.
  • One little worm can shoot a harpoon out of its head to stab its prey.
  • The cone shell hunts fish with a venom-tipped harpoon, or extendable tooth.
  • The harpoon is rigged with a hot wire that electrocutes the fish.
  • During college she was the lookout and helmsman on a swordfish harpoon boat.
  • The shark is speared with a roped harpoon and drags first one, then two, and finally three barrels as the humans try to shoot it.
  • harpoon categories as described in the proposed action.
  • The commercial take of coastal pelagic species by round haul net and swordfish by harpoon is allowed.
British Dictionary definitions for harpoon

harpoon

/hɑːˈpuːn/
noun
1.
  1. a barbed missile attached to a long cord and hurled or fired from a gun when hunting whales, etc
  2. (as modifier): a harpoon gun
verb
2.
(transitive) to spear with or as if with a harpoon
Derived Forms
harpooner, harpooneer, noun
harpoon-like, adjective
Word Origin
C17: probably from Dutch harpoen, from Old French harpon clasp, from harper to seize, perhaps of Scandinavian origin
Word Origin and History for harpoon
n.

1610s, from French harpon, from Old French harpon "cramp iron, clamp, clasp" (described as a mason's tool for fastening stones together), from harper "to grapple, grasp," possibly of Germanic origin, or from Latin harpa- "hook" (cf. harpagonem "grappling hook," from Greek *harpagon, related to harpe "sickle"). Earlier harping-iron (mid-15c.). Sense and spelling perhaps influenced by Dutch (cf. Middle Dutch harpoen) or Basque, the language of the first whaling peoples, who often accompanied English sailors on their early expeditions. Also see -oon.

v.

1774, from harpoon (n.). Related: Harpooned; harpooning. For agent-noun forms, harpooner is from 1726; harpooneer from 1610s.

Encyclopedia Article for harpoon

barbed spear used to kill whales, tuna, swordfish, and other large sea creatures, formerly thrown by hand but now, in the case of whales, shot from especially constructed guns

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