thresher shark

noun

: a large nearly cosmopolitan shark (Alopias vulpinus) that has a greatly elongated curved upper lobe of the tail which is often used to thresh the water to round up the schooling fish on which it feeds see shark illustration

Examples of thresher shark in a Sentence

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Just a few months earlier, another thresher shark was found dead on a beach in Devon, hinting at a troubling trend for this vulnerable species. — Melissa Cristina Marquez, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025 The dead thresher shark was moved from Par Beach to be studied. — Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 3 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1888, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of thresher shark was in 1888

Rhymes for thresher shark

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thresherman
thresher shark
thresher whale
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“Thresher shark.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thresher%20shark. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.

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Kids Definition

thresher shark

noun
: a large shark that has a very long curved upper lobe on its tail which it often uses in rounding up and stunning fish to feed on

More from Merriam-Webster on thresher shark

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about thresher shark

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