Category:Baleen

Ba*leen", n. Etym: [F. baleine whale and whalibone, L. balaena a whale; cf. Gr. . ] (Zoöl. & Com.)

Defn: 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.