walrus

C2+ Topic:Animals

US /ˈwɑl.ɹəs/ UK /ˈwɔːl.ɹəs/ See IPA manual

Freq #19360

Meanings

1

noun
A large Arctic marine mammal related to seals and having long tusks, tough, wrinkled skin, and four flippers, Odobenus rosmarus.

Of all the Phocine family none present so terrible and grotesque an appearance as the gigantic Walrus, also known as the morse and sea-horse.
2

noun
A man with a walrus moustache.

You old walrus, don't you think it is time for you to lop your whiskers off?
3

verb
To hunt walruses

It's strange to see parties of merrymakers gather where I nearly drowned, and later walrused with David Isaakovich, Father Basil and the rest of them.
4

verb
To be like a walrus

Gaddy walrused herself from the back seat.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a large arctic marine... morsesea horse

Word family

Derived forms she-walruswalruslike

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

walrus mustache
a thick mustache that hangs down over the upper lip

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Walrus entered English from Dutch in the early 18th century. Dutch had borrowed and reversed the elements of Old Norse hrosshvair, literally “horse whale.”

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Dutch walrus, a compound of wal (“whale”) and ros (“horse”). Displaced native Old English horshwæl (literally “horse-whale”). Compare similar constructions in Danish hvalros, Old Norse hrosshvalr, and German Walross.

Topics

Animals

External links

# walrus

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈwɑl.ɹəs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈwɔːl.ɹəs/
**Frequency rank:** 19360

## Meanings
1. A large Arctic marine mammal related to seals and having long tusks, tough, wrinkled skin, and four flippers, Odobenus rosmarus.
2. A man with a walrus moustache.
3. To hunt walruses
4. To be like a walrus

## Examples
- Of all the Phocine family none present so terrible and grotesque an appearance as the gigantic Walrus, also known as the morse and sea-horse.
- You old walrus, don't you think it is time for you to lop your whiskers off?
- It's strange to see parties of merrymakers gather where I nearly drowned, and later walrused with David Isaakovich, Father Basil and the rest of them.
- Gaddy walrused herself from the back seat.

## Derived Forms
- she-walrus
- walruslike

## Etymology
Probably borrowed from Dutch walrus, a compound of wal (“whale”) and ros (“horse”). Displaced native Old English horshwæl (literally “horse-whale”). Compare similar constructions in Danish hvalros, Old Norse hrosshvalr, and German Walross.

## Topics
- Animals

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