dolphin Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun large slender food and game fish widely distributed in warm seas (especially around Hawaii)
    mahimahi; dolphinfish.
  2. noun any of various small toothed whales with a beaklike snout; larger than porpoises

WordNet

Dol"phin noun
Etymology
F. dauphin dolphin, dauphin, earlier spelt also doffin; cf. OF. dalphinal of the dauphin; fr. L. delphinus, Gr. a dolphin (in senses 1, 2, & 5), perh. properly, belly fish; cf. womb, Skr. garbha; perh. akin to E. calf. Cf. Dauphin, Delphine.
Definitions
  1. (Zool.) (a) A cetacean of the genus Delphinus and allied genera (esp. D. delphis); the true dolphin. (b) The Coryphæna hippuris, a fish of about five feet in length, celebrated for its surprising changes of color when dying. It is the fish commonly known as the dolphin. See Coryphænoid. ✍ The dolphin of the ancients (D. delphis) is common in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, and attains a length of from six to eight feet.
  2. Gr. (Gr. Antiq.) A mass of iron or lead hung from the yardarm, in readiness to be dropped on the deck of an enemy's vessel.
  3. (Naut.) (a) A kind of wreath or strap of plaited cordage. (b) A spar or buoy held by an anchor and furnished with a ring to which ships may fasten their cables. R. H. Dana. (c) A mooring post on a wharf or beach. (d) A permanent fender around a heavy boat just below the gunwale. Ham. Nav. Encyc.
  4. (Gun.) In old ordnance, one of the handles above the trunnions by which the gun was lifted.
  5. (Astron.) A small constellation between Aquila and Pegasus. See Delphinus, n., #2.

Webster 1913