Harpoon

4 definitions found

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

  Harpoon \Har*poon"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Harpooned}
     (-p[=oo]nd"); p. pr. & vb. n. {Harpooning}.]
     To strike, catch, or kill with a harpoon.
     [1913 Webster]

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



  Harpoon \Har*poon"\ (h[aum]r*p[=oo]n"), n. [F. harpon, LL.
     harpo, perh. of Ger. origin, fr. the harp; cf. F. harper to
     take and grasp strongly, harpe a dog's claw, harpin boathook
     (the sense of hook coming from the shape of the harp); but
     cf. also Gr. "a`rph the kite, sickle, and E. harpy. Cf.
     {Harp}.]
     A spear or javelin used to strike and kill large fish, as
     whales; a harping iron. It consists of a long shank, with a
     broad, flat, triangular head, sharpened at both edges, and is
     thrown by hand, or discharged from a gun.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Harpoon fork}, a kind of hayfork, consisting of a bar with
        hinged barbs at one end and a loop for a rope at the other
        end, used for lifting hay from the load by horse power.
  
     {Harpoon gun}, a gun used in the whale fishery for shooting
        the harpoon into a whale.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  harpoon
       n : a spear with a shaft and barbed point for throwing; used for
           catching large fish or whales; a strong line is attached
           to it
       v : spear with a harpoon; "harpoon whales"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  24 Moby Thesaurus words for "harpoon":
     bag, catch, enmesh, ensnare, entangle, entrap, foul, hook, land,
     lasso, mesh, nail, net, noose, rope, sack, snag, snare, sniggle,
     spear, take, tangle, tangle up with, trap