Meanings
nounwhale shark (plural whale sharks)
plural whale sharks
- A very large spotted shark, Rhincodon typus, of warm marine waters, similar to a whale, that feeds by filtering plankton from the water.
The largest fish in the world is a shark. It is a harmless plankton eater, and its name, whale shark has been confusing people for years.
1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 42
Synonyms & antonyms
nounlarge spotted shark of warm surface waters worldwide; resembles a whale and feeds chiefly on plankton
Similar
Rhincodon typus
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Bulgarian к акула
- к акула (k akula)Rhincodon typus
Catalan tauró balena
- tauró balenaRhincodon typus
Chinese Mandarin 鯨鯊 /鲸鲨
- 鯨鯊 /鲸鲨 (jīngshā)Rhincodon typus
Danish hvalhaj
- hvalhajRhincodon typus
Dutch walvishaai
- walvishaaiRhincodon typus
Finnish valashai
- valashaiRhincodon typus
French requin-baleine
- requin-baleineRhincodon typus
German Walhai
- WalhaiRhincodon typus
Greek φαλαινοκαρχαρίας
- φαλαινοκαρχαρίας (falainokarcharías)Rhincodon typus
Hungarian cetcápa
- cetcápaRhincodon typus
Irish míolsiorc
- míolsiorcRhincodon typus
Italian squalo balena
- squalo balenaRhincodon typus
Japanese 甚兵衛鮫
- 甚兵衛鮫 (jinbēzame)Rhincodon typus
Korean 고래상어
- 고래상어 (goraesang'eo)Rhincodon typus
Norwegian Bokmål hvalhai, kvalhai
- hvalhaiRhincodon typus
- kvalhaiRhincodon typus
Polish rekin wielorybi
- rekin wielorybiRhincodon typus
Portuguese tubarão-baleia
- tubarão-baleiaRhincodon typus
Russian кито́вая аку́ла
- кито́вая аку́ла (kitóvaja akúla)Rhincodon typus
Spanish tiburón ballena
- tiburón ballenaRhincodon typus
Swedish valhaj
- valhajRhincodon typus
Tagalog butanding, isdangtuko
- butandingRhincodon typus
- isdangtukoRhincodon typus
Thai ฉลามวาฬ
- ฉลามวาฬ (chà-lǎam-waan)Rhincodon typus
Turkish balina köpek balığı
- balina köpek balığıRhincodon typus
Welsh morgi morfilaidd
- morgi morfilaiddRhincodon typus
Cite this entry
APA
whale shark. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whale%20shark
MLA
“whale shark.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whale%20shark. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “whale shark,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whale%20shark.
Source: whale shark on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.