harpoon
English
harpoon
a whaling harpoon
Etymology
From Old French harpon, from Latin harpaga, a rare variant of Latin harpagō, from Ancient Greek ἁρπάγη (harpágē, “hook”), from ἁρπάζω (harpázō, “to snatch away, to carry off, to seize, to captivate”). Sense and spelling perhaps influenced by Dutch harpoen (“harpoon”). Doublet of harpagon.
Pronunciation
- (General American) enPR: härpo͞onʹ, IPA(key): /hɑːɹˈpuːn/
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: härpo͞onʹ, IPA(key): /hɑːˈpuːn/
Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -uːn
- Hyphenation: har‧poon
Noun
harpoon (plural harpoons)
- A spearlike weapon with a barbed head used in hunting whales and large fish.
- (slang) A harmonica.
- 1969, Kris Kristofferson; Fred Foster (lyrics and music), “Me and Bobby McGee”:
- I took my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana.
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Derived terms
- harpoon fork
Translations
spearlike weapon
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Verb
harpoon (third-person singular simple present harpoons, present participle harpooning, simple past and past participle harpooned)
- (transitive) To shoot something with a harpoon.
- 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 176:
- Pilot whales, also known as blackfish, were fairly plentiful, and Mundus would harpoon one or two, haul them out onto the beach, and butcher them.
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Derived terms
- harpooner
Translations
to hunt with a harpoon
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See also
- spear