noun
- a horny substance that hangs in plates from the upper jaw of certain whales and is used to filter food from seawater
Usage: zoology
Examples
- Blue whales use their baleen to filter tiny krill from the ocean water.
- The baleen whale opened its massive mouth to feed on plankton.
- Historical corsets were sometimes made with strips of baleen instead of metal.
- Scientists can determine a whale’s age by examining its baleen plates.
- The baleen acts like a giant sieve, trapping small organisms while water flows out.
- Humpback whales have baleen that can be over three feet long.