- Whale shark
- Shark Shark, n. [Of uncertain origin; perhaps through OF. fr.
carcharus a kind of dogfish, Gr. karchari`as, so called from
its sharp teeth, fr. ka`rcharos having sharp or jagged teeth;
or perhaps named from its rapacity (cf. {Shark}, v. t. & i.);
cf. Corn. scarceas.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of elasmobranch
fishes of the order Plagiostomi, found in all seas.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Some sharks, as the basking shark and the whale shark, grow to an enormous size, the former becoming forty feet or more, and the latter sixty feet or more, in length. Most of them are harmless to man, but some are exceedingly voracious. The man-eating sharks mostly belong to the genera {Carcharhinus}, {Carcharodon}, and related genera. They have several rows of large sharp teeth with serrated edges, as the great white shark ({Carcharodon carcharias} or {Carcharodon Rondeleti}) of tropical seas, and the great blue shark ({Carcharhinus glaucus}) of all tropical and temperate seas. The former sometimes becomes thirty-six feet long, and is the most voracious and dangerous species known. The rare man-eating shark of the United States coast ({Charcarodon Atwoodi}) is thought by some to be a variety, or the young, of {C. carcharias}. The dusky shark ({Carcharhinus obscurus}), and the smaller blue shark ({C. caudatus}), both common species on the coast of the United States, are of moderate size and not dangerous. They feed on shellfish and bottom fishes. [1913 Webster]
2. A rapacious, artful person; a sharper. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
3. Trickery; fraud; petty rapine; as, to live upon the shark. [Obs.] --South. [1913 Webster]
{Baskin shark}, {Liver shark}, {Nurse shark}, {Oil shark}, {Sand shark}, {Tiger shark}, etc. See under {Basking}, {Liver}, etc. See also {Dogfish}, {Houndfish}, {Notidanian}, and {Tope}.
{Gray shark}, the sand shark.
{Hammer-headed shark}. See {Hammerhead}.
{Port Jackson shark}. See {Cestraciont}.
{Shark barrow}, the eggcase of a shark; a sea purse.
{Shark ray}. Same as {Angel fish} (a), under {Angel}.
{Thrasher shark} or {Thresher shark}, a large, voracious shark. See {Thrasher}.
{Whale shark}, a huge harmless shark ({Rhinodon typicus}) of the Indian Ocean. It becomes sixty feet or more in length, but has very small teeth. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
