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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Sperm whale \Sperm" whale`\ (Zool.)
A very large toothed whale ({Physeter macrocephalus}), having
a head of enormous size. The upper jaw is destitute of teeth.
In the upper part of the head, above the skull, there is a
large cavity, or case, filled with oil and spermaceti. This
whale sometimes grows to the length of more than eighty feet.
It is found in the warmer parts of all the oceans. Called
also {cachalot}, and {spermaceti whale}.
[1913 Webster]

{Pygmy sperm whale} (Zool.), a small whale ({Kogia
breviceps}), seldom twenty feet long, native of tropical
seas, but occasionally found on the American coast. Called
also {snub-nosed cachalot}.

{Sperm-whale porpoise} (Zool.), a toothed cetacean
({Hyperoodon bidens}), found on both sides of the Atlantic
and valued for its oil. The adult becomes about
twenty-five feet long, and its head is very large and
thick. Called also {bottle-nosed whale}.
[1913 Webster]


cachalot \cach"a*lot\, n. [F. cachalot.] (Zool.)
The sperm whale ({Physeter macrocephalus}). It has in the top
of its head a large cavity, containing an oily fluid, which,
after death, concretes into a whitish crystalline substance
called {spermaceti}. See {Sperm whale}.
[1913 Webster]