walrus
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L330266 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈwɔːl.ɹəs/ / /ˈwɒl.ɹəs/ / /ˈwɑl.ɹəs/
noun
Etymology: Probably borrowed from Dutch walrus, a compound of wal (“whale”) and ros (“horse”). Displaced native Old English horshwæl (literally “horse-whale”). Compare similar constructions in Danish hvalros, Old Norse hrosshvalr, and German Walross.
- A large Arctic pinniped having long tusks, tough, wrinkled skin, and four flippers, Odobenus rosmarus.
“Of all the Phocine family none present so terrible and grotesque an appearance as the gigantic Walrus, also known as the morse and sea-horse.”
- A man with a walrus moustache.
“You old walrus, don't you think it is time for you to lop your whiskers off?”
“One, a rumpled, whiskered walrus of a man, held a lantern near Mother's face.”
verb
Etymology: Probably borrowed from Dutch walrus, a compound of wal (“whale”) and ros (“horse”). Displaced native Old English horshwæl (literally “horse-whale”). Compare similar constructions in Danish hvalros, Old Norse hrosshvalr, and German Walross.
- To hunt walruses
“It's strange to see parties of merrymakers gather where I nearly drowned, and later walrused with David Isaakovich, Father Basil and the rest of them.”
- To be like a walrus
“Gaddy walrused herself from the back seat”
- To be like a walrus
“His untrimmed mustache walrused down and over his hidden mouth”
- To be like a walrus
“Where a mammal had its canine teeth, great fangs walrused down from the grezzen's upper jaw, as long as scimitars and as thick as human thighs.”