Definition

1. Noun:
   • Whale: A very large marine mammal that breathes air through a blowhole, has a streamlined body, and is a member of the order Cetacea.
   • (In a specific, dated Vietnamese context): Refers to the industry, vessels, or people involved in hunting whales.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Cá voi là động vật có vú sống ở biển. (The whale is a mammal that lives in the sea.)
  • Chúng tôi đã nhìn thấy một con cá voi lưng gù trên biển. (We saw a humpback whale in the ocean.)
  • Ngành công nghiệp đánh cá voi từng rất phát triển. (The whaling industry was once very developed.)

Advanced Usage

• "Cá voi" in historical/industrial contexts: Used in compound terms related to whaling, a practice now largely banned or restricted.
  • Tàu đánh cá voi thường có hành trình rất dài. (Whaling ships often had very long voyages.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cá heo (n): Dolphin. A smaller, toothed cetacean.
• Cá nhà táng (n): Sperm whale. A specific type of large, toothed whale.
• Cá voi xanh (n): Blue whale. The largest animal known to have ever existed.
• Cá voi sát thủ (n): Killer whale / Orca. Actually the largest species of dolphin.

Synonyms

• Ông cá voi (n, poetic): A poetic or folkloric term for whale, often personified.
• Cá ông (n, regional): A term used by some coastal communities in Vietnam to refer to whales, which are sometimes revered.

Related Phrases / Compound Terms

• Đánh bắt cá voi (v phrase): To hunt whales; to engage in whaling.
• Bảo tồn cá voi (v phrase): Whale conservation.
• Tiếng hát của cá voi (n phrase): Whale song.

Related Idioms

• To như cá voi: (As) big as a whale. An idiom used to describe someone or something as very large or fat.
  • Sau kỳ nghỉ, nó to như cá voi. (After the holiday, he's as big as a whale.)

1. Whale