whaler

Definition

One who hunts whales; a person employed in the whaling industry.

Etymology

From whale + -er. In sense 1, displaced Old English hwælhunta (literally “whale hunter”).

Example Sentences

• "For a whaler's wife to have been “ 'round the Cape” half a dozen times, or even more, was nothing extraordinary."
• "Whalers have always overexploited their stocks, driving them to commercial extinction.[…]American whalers, operating at first from the coast and later in sea-going boats, took about 200 000 right whales in addition to humpbacks and grays."
• "The whalers brought a new way of life. They brought a chance for travel. Many Chamorros traveled to London and the United States. Over eight hundred Chamorro whalers settled in Honolulu."