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A firm, elastic substance resembling horn, taken from the upper jaw of the right whale; baleen. It is used as a stiffening in stays, fans, screens, and for various other purposes. See Baleen.

Plates or blades of "whalebone," from two to twelve feet long, and sometimes a foot wide, which in certain whales (Balænoidea) are attached side by side along the upper jaw, and form a fringelike sieve by which the food is retained in the mouth.

A kind of under waist stiffened with whalebone, etc., worn esp. by women; a corset; stays.

Whalebone; hence, a piece of whalebone or of steel for a corset.

A form of woman's underwaist stiffened with whalebones, or the like, and worn to support the breasts.

A thin, elastic strip of metal, whalebone, wood, or other material, worn in the front of a corset. Her long slit sleeves, stiff busk, puff verdingall, Is all that makes her thus angelical. Marston.

les; the tail flukes are horizontal. There are two living suborders: (a) The Mysticete or whalebone whales, having no true teeth after birth, but with a series of plates of whalebone [see Baleen.] hanging down from the upper jaw on each side, thus making a strainer, through which they receive the small animals upon whi…

A dandy roller. See below. Dandy brush, a yard whalebone brush. -- Dandy fever. See Dengue. -- Dandy line, a kind of fishing line to which are attached several crosspieces of whalebone which carry a hook at each end. -- Dandy roller, a roller sieve used in machines for making paper, to press out water from the pulp,…

A substitute for whalebone, made from the quills of geese and turkeys.

le; flexibleness; pliancy; pliability; as, the flexibility of strips of hemlock, hickory, whalebone or metal, or of rays of light. Sir I. Newton. All the flexibility of a veteran courtier. Macaulay.

A circle, or combination of circles, of thin whalebone, metal, or other elastic material, used for expanding the skirts of ladies' dresses; crinoline; -- used chiefly in the plural. Though stiff with hoops, and armed with ribs of whale. Pope.

Any right whale, or whalebone whale. See Cetacea.

A framework of steel or whalebone, worn by women to expand their dresses; a kind of bustle.

A slender elastic rod, as of whalebone, with a sponge on the end, for removing obstructions from the esophagus, etc.

The bowhead, Arctic, or Greenland whale (Balæna mysticetus), from whose mouth the best whalebone is obtained.

A very large North Atlantic whalebone whale (Physalus antiquorum, or Balænoptera physalus). It has a dorsal fin, and strong longitudinal folds on the throat and belly. Called also razorback.

A ragged, stunted tree or branch. Scrag whale (Zoöl.), a North Atlantic whalebone whale (Agaphelus giddosus). By some it is considered the young of the right whale.

A corset stiffened with whalebone or other material, worn by women, and rarely by men. How the strait stays the slender waist constrain. Gay.

A very large whalebone whale of the genus Sibbaldius, having a yellowish belly; especially, S. sulfureus of the North Pacific, and S. borealis of the North Atlantic; -- called also sulphur whale.

r from rain or snow. It is formed of silk, cotton, or other fabric, extended on strips of whalebone, steel, or other elastic material, inserted, or fastened to, a rod or stick by means of pivots or hinges, in such a way as to allow of being opened and closed with ease. See Parasol. Underneath the umbrella's oily shed.…