From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishharpoonhar‧poon /hɑːˈpuːn $ hɑːr-/ noun [countable] PMWTAa weapon used for hunting whales —harpoon verb [transitive]
Examples from the Corpus
harpoon• It involved using a cannon to fire a harpoon carrying an explosive grenade.• Seabury nevertheless decided to tackle it, and thrust a harpoon deep into the creature's neck.• Trondur had hurried forward to fetch his biggest harpoon which he kept strapped across the bows.• The crotch is a notched stick which holds both harpoons.• The dolphins and porpoises are hunted either with hand harpoons or in drive fisheries.• The carpenter and blacksmith hurriedly fashion a new one, and Ahab has a new harpoon fashioned from the finest iron.• The steam-powered harpoon appeared in 1864.• Two harpoons are usually thrown in quick succession.Origin harpoon (1600-1700) Probably from Dutch harpoen, from Old French harpon “fastener” 