whalebone: Meaning and Definition of

whale•bone

Pronunciation: (hwāl'bōn", wāl'-), [key]
— n.
  1. an elastic, horny substance growing in place of teeth in the upper jaw of certain whales, and forming a series of thin, parallel plates on each side of the palate; baleen.
  2. a thin strip of this substance, for stiffening a corset.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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