dolphin
UK/ˈdɒlf.ɪn//ˈdɑlf.ɪn/
dolphin noun: a carnivorous cetacean, typically with a beak-like snout, famed for their intelligence and occasional willingness to approach humans.
Noun (1)
dolphin (plural dolphins)
- A carnivorous cetacean, typically with a beak-like snout, famed for their intelligence and occasional willingness to approach humans.
- Tursiops truncatus, (Atlantic bottlenose dolphin) the most well-known species.
- A fish, the mahi-mahi or dorado, Coryphaena hippurus, with a dorsal fin that runs the length of the body, also known for iridescent coloration.
- A depiction of a fish, with a broad indented fin, usually embowed.
- The dauphin, eldest son of the kings of France.
- A mass of iron or lead hung from the yardarm, in readiness to be dropped through the deck and the hull of an enemy's vessel to sink it.
- A kind of wreath or strap of plaited cordage.
- A spar or buoy held by an anchor and furnished with a ring to which ships may fasten their cables.
- A mooring post on a wharf or beach.
- A permanent fender designed to protect a heavy boat, bridge, or coastal structure from the impact of large floating objects such as ice, floating logs, or vessels.
- At each end of the piers in the water, in cases where several rows of pile are driven, a sort of cutwater should be formed, in order to ward off heavy bodies, such as floating trees, ice, etc. and prevent them from injuring the superstructure (called in German constructions, "Eisbrecher," or...1844, The Technical Educator, an encyclopædia, page 107
- An ice-breaker or dolphin was also constructed during the latter part of the autumn, a little above the site for No. 2 dam, or that for the twoer nearest the Pesth shore; this dolphin, which served as a protection against the ice, rafts, &c. was constructed at this time, so that a means might be...1852, William Tierney Clark, An Account, with illustrations, of the Suspension Bridge across the River Danube, uniting Pesth with Buda and the adjacent country, in the Kingdom of Hungary, etc, page 37
- One of the handles above the trunnions by which a gun was lifted.
- A person who buys shares on the primary market only to resell them immediately at a high profit.
Noun (2)
dolphin (plural dolphins)
Proper noun capitalized: Dolphin
Dolphin (countable and uncountable, plural Dolphins)
- A surname.
- A township in Knox County, Nebraska, United States.
- An unincorporated community in Brunswick County, Virginia, United States.
- An unincorporated community in San Juan County, Washington, United States.
- A hamlet in Brynford community, Flintshire, Wales (OS grid ref SJ1973).
- Synonym of Delphinus (constellation).
- Synonyms:
- Delphinus
Noun (3) capitalized: Dolphin
Dolphin (plural Dolphins)
- A member of an athletic team called the Dolphins, such as the Miami Dolphins and teams of various institutions of learning.
dolphin meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
dolphin in Hindi
- aquatic mammal
- सूंस sūns, सूँस sū̃s, शिशुमार śiśumār, डॉल्फ़िन ḍŏlfin, डॉल्फिन ḍŏlphin
dolphin in Tamil
- aquatic mammal
- ஓங்கில் ōṅkil
dolphin in Marathi
- aquatic mammal
- डॉलफिन ḍŏlphin
dolphin in Urdu
- aquatic mammal
- ڈولْفِن ḍolfin, ڈالْفِن ḍālfin, خُوکِ بَحْری xūk-i bahrī, سُون٘س sū̃s
More languagesFewer languages
- dolphin in Bengali
- ডলফিন ḍolphin
- dolphin in Telugu
- డాల్ఫిన్ ḍālphin
- dolphin in Malayalam
- ഏടി ēṭi, ഡോൾഫിൻ ḍōḷphiṉ
- dolphin in Kannada
- ಡೊಲ್ಪಿನ್ ḍolpin
- dolphin in Punjabi
- ਬੁੱਲ੍ਹਣ bullhaṇ, بُلّھَݨ bullhaṇ
- dolphin in Gujarati
- શિશુમાર śiśumār
- dolphin in Odia
- ଡେଲଫିନ୍ ḍelaphin
- dolphin in Sinhala
- ඩොල්ෆින් ḍolfin
- dolphin in Assamese
- শিহু xihu, উলুপী ulupi, ডেলফিন delophin
- dolphin in Nepali
- गुँज gũj
- dolphin in Pashto
- دولفين dolfin, ډالفين ḍālfin
- dolphin in Tagalog
- lumba-lumba, lumbalumba
- dolphin in Arabic
- دُلْفِين dulfīn, دَرْفِيل darfīl, دُخَس duḵas
- dolphin in Malay
- lumba-lumba
- dolphin in Indonesian
- lumba-lumba
- dolphin in Thai
- โลมา loo-maa, ปลาโลมา bplaa loo-maa
- dolphin in Vietnamese
- cá heo
- dolphin in Myanmar
- လင်းပိုင် lang:puing
- Sindhi
- ٻُلهَڻُ ḇulhaṇu, ٻُلهَڻِ ḇulhaṇi, ٻِرُون ḇirū̃
- Kashmiri
- سوٗسمار sūsmār
Examples of dolphin in a sentence
- This is usually done by driving one pile by itself in advance of the rest, or by forming what is called a "dolphin" at each end of the pier.1844, The Technical Educator, an encyclopædia, page 107:
- For a dolphin or buoy to be placed on the south point of Goat Island, in the harbor of Newport, one hundred and fifty dollars.1852, The Congressional Globe: Volume 32, page xxx:
Synonyms of dolphin
Forms of dolphin
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | dolphins |
| plural | Dolphins |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Dolphins |
Origin of dolphin
From Middle English delphyn, from Latin delphīnus, from Ancient Greek δελφίς (delphís), from δελφύς (delphús, “womb”); the modern form in -ol- is probably influenced by the pronunciation of Middle French dauphin. Compare Swedish delfin. Doublet of dauphin. Displaced native Old English mereswīn (literally “sea pig”), whence English mereswine.
Ultimately from 3rd Duke of Alba (duc-d'Albe in French), who was the first to build this type of structure in the Spanish Netherlands in the 16th century. Possibly from Dutch dukdalf, or the plural dukdalven, through elision of the initial duk-.
From Middle English Dolfin, from Old Norse Dólgfinnr (given name), from dólgr (“enemy”) + Finnr (“Sami”).
Words formed from dolphin
- Amazon dolphin
- Amazon River dolphin
- Arabian common dolphin
- Araguaian river dolphin
- Atlantic humpback dolphin
- Atlantic spotted dolphin
- Atlantic white-sided dolphin
- Australian snubfin dolphin
- bean-dolphin
- black dolphin
- blind river dolphin
- bottlenose dolphin
- Chilean dolphin
- Chinese river dolphin
- Chinese white dolphin
- Clymene dolphin
- Commerson's dolphin
- common dolphin
- delphine
- dolphinarium
- dolphin dive
- dolphinese
- dolphinet
- dolphinfish
- dolphin fly
- dolphin-friendly
- dolphin hugger
- dolphining
- dolphin kick
- dolphinkind
- dolphinless
- dolphinlike
- dolphin shorts
- dolphinspeak
- dolphin striker
- dusky dolphin
- estuarine dolphin
- flog the dolphin
- Fraser's dolphin
- Ganges River dolphin
- green dolphin
- Guiana dolphin
- Heaviside's dolphin
- Hector's dolphin
- hourglass dolphin
- humpback dolphin
- Indian humpback dolphin
- Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphin
- Indian Ocean humpback dolphin
- Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin
- Indus River dolphin
- Irrawaddy dolphin
- La Plata dolphin
- long-beaked common dolphin
- Māui dolphin
- oceanic dolphin
- Pacific humpback dolphin
- Pacific white-sided dolphin
- panda dolphin
- pantropical spotted dolphin
Phrases with dolphin
- dolphin fish
- pink dolphin
- dolphin dives
- dolphin flies
- dolphin kicks
- Dolphin Sands
- river dolphin
- skunk dolphin
- dolphin fishes
- dolphin huggers
- Peale's dolphin
- piebald dolphin
28 more phrasesFewer phrases
- Risso's dolphin
- Sarawak dolphin
- spinner dolphin
- spotted dolphin
- striped dolphin
- wax the dolphin
- Yangtze dolphin
- dolphin strikers
- whitefin dolphin
- flogs the dolphin
- waxed the dolphin
- waxes the dolphin
- pink river dolphin
- waxing the dolphin
- bottle-nose dolphin
- bottlenosed dolphin
- flogged the dolphin
- right whale dolphin
- white-sided dolphin
- bottle-nosed dolphin
- flogging the dolphin
- white-beaked dolphin
- rough-toothed dolphin
- Yangtze River dolphin
- Bolivian river dolphin
- Black Sea bottlenose dolphin
- northern right whale dolphin
- southern right whale dolphin
Questions about dolphin
- What does dolphin mean?
- Dolphin means a carnivorous cetacean, typically with a beak-like snout, famed for their intelligence and occasional willingness to approach humans.
- What is dolphin in Hindi?
- Dolphin in Hindi is सूंस (sūns), सूँस (sū̃s), शिशुमार (śiśumār). See Dolphin meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use dolphin in a sentence?
- This is usually done by driving one pile by itself in advance of the rest, or by forming what is called a "dolphin" at each end of the pier.
- What part of speech is dolphin?
- Dolphin can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce dolphin?
- Dolphin is pronounced /ˈdɒlf.ɪn/ (UK).
- What is the plural of dolphin?
- The plural of dolphin is dolphins.
Words near dolphin in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dolphin (page history and authors); Dolphin (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-dolphin.ogg.
Cite this entry: “dolphin.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dolphin. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.