a very large sea-dwelling mammal that breathes air through a blowhole and has a broad horizontal tail for swimming
From the boat, we saw a whale leap out of the water before splashing back down.
The documentary showed a whale gliding gracefully beneath the Arctic ice.
✦ Old English hwæl, from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz, related to Old Norse hvalr and Dutch walvis.
to hit, beat, or strike something or someone very hard and repeatedly
The carpenter whaled the nail with his hammer until it was flush with the wood.
During the snowball fight, the kids whaled each other with playful throws.
✦ Probably from earlier sense ‘move forcefully’ influenced by Norse hvelta ‘to overturn’.
a person who spends extremely large amounts of money, especially in casinos or mobile games
The casino staff treated him like royalty because he was a known whale.
Mobile game developers focus on attracting whales who buy many in-app items.
✦ Metaphoric extension from the huge size of the animal, first used in Las Vegas casinos in the late 20th century.
