Baleen

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Baleen \Ba*leen"\ (b[.a]*l[=e]n"), n. [F. baleine whale and
     whalebone, L. balaena a whale; cf. Gr. fa`laina. ] (Zool. &
     Com.)
     Plates or blades of "whalebone," from two to twelve feet
     long, and sometimes a foot wide, which in certain whales
     ({Bal[ae]noidea}) are attached side by side along the upper


     jaw, and form a fringelike sieve by which the food is
     retained in the mouth.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  baleen
       n : a horny material from the upper jaws of certain whales; used
           as the ribs of fans or as stays in corsets [syn: {whalebone}]