Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- a barbed, spearlike missile attached to a rope, and thrown by hand or shot from a gun, used for killing and capturing whales and large fish.
- (initial capital letter) Military. a jet-powered, radar-guided U.S. Navy cruise missile with a high explosive warhead designed for use against surface ships and launchable from a surface vessel, submerged submarine, or aircraft.
verb (used with object)
- to strike, catch, or kill with or as if with a harpoon.
noun
-
- a barbed missile attached to a long cord and hurled or fired from a gun when hunting whales, etc
- (as modifier)a harpoon gun
verb
- (tr) to spear with or as if with a harpoon
1610s, from French harpon, from Old French harpon “cramp iron, clamp, clasp” (described as a mason’s tool for fastening stones together), from harper “to grapple, grasp,” possibly of Germanic origin, or from Latin harpa- “hook” (cf. harpagonem “grappling hook,” from Greek *harpagon, related to harpe “sickle”). Earlier harping-iron (mid-15c.). Sense and spelling perhaps influenced by Dutch (cf. Middle Dutch harpoen) or Basque, the language of the first whaling peoples, who often accompanied English sailors on their early expeditions. Also see -oon.
1774, from harpoon (n.). Related: Harpooned; harpooning. For agent-noun forms, harpooner is from 1726; harpooneer from 1610s.