Word
walrus
Phoneticswal·rus
US/ˈwɔɫɹəs/
UK/wˈɒlɹəs/
Definition
n. a large, heavy animal with a thick body and long tusks. It lives in cold ocean waters and eats fish and sea plants.
n. a large, thick-skinned marine mammal of the family Phocidae, characterized by long tusks and a prominent mustache of whiskers.
Examples
“The walrus swims slowly through the icy water.”
“During the summer months, the walrus spends much of its time on the rocky shores of the Arctic.”
“The walrus is a keystone species in the Arctic ecosystem, playing a vital role in the local food chain by controlling the population of benthic invertebrates.”
Examples
simple
“The walrus swims slowly through the icy water.”
contextual
“During the summer months, the walrus spends much of its time on the rocky shores of the Arctic.”
complex
“The walrus is a keystone species in the Arctic ecosystem, playing a vital role in the local food chain by controlling the population of benthic invertebrates.”
Real-World Examples
“In 2024, a tourist was fined 11,500 kroner (£900) for getting too close to a walrus .” 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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/walrus