white whale

名词 n.
中文释义

英文释义

名词 n.
  1. Synonym of beluga (“the beluga whale, Delphinapterus leucas, a cetacean found in the Arctic Ocean”)
    — The English called the beluga the "white whale", a name often still used (and not to be confused with the white whale of Moby-Dick, which was an albino sperm whale).
  2. Any whale of the family Monodontidae, which comprises the beluga whales and narwhals (Monodon monoceros), and some extinct species.
  3. An obsession, a monomania. figuratively
    — No … no sapphires. It looks like Lester Velasquez was chasing his white whale. There never were any sapphires inside that diner.
  4. A printing plate, used to manufacture a particular sports card, that is then issued as a collectible itself. figuratively

词形变化

white whales plural

词源

From white + whale. The figurative senses refer to the novel Moby-Dick (1851) by the American writer Herman Melville (1819–1891), in which Captain Ahab relentlessly pursues a rare albino sperm whale.
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