[syn: humpback, humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Humpback \Hump"back`\, n. [Cf. Hunchback.]
1. A crooked back; a humped back. --Tatler.
[1913 Webster]
2. A humpbacked person; a hunchback.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Zool.)
(a) Any whale of the genus Megaptera, characterized by a
hump or bunch on the back. Several species are known.
The most common ones in the North Atlantic are
Megaptera longimana of Europe, and Megaptera
osphyia of America; that of the California coasts is
Megaptera versabilis.
(b) A small salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), of the
northwest coast of America; the humpbacked salmon.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
humpback
n 1: an abnormal backward curve to the vertebral column [syn:
kyphosis, humpback, hunchback]
2: a person whose back is hunched because of abnormal curvature
of the upper spine [syn: humpback, hunchback,
crookback]
3: large whalebone whale with long flippers noted for arching or
humping its back as it dives [syn: humpback, humpback
whale, Megaptera novaeangliae]