Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Right whale
Right′ whaleˊ
.(Zool.)
(a)
The bowhead, Arctic, or Greenland whale (
Balaena mysticetus
), from whose mouth the best whalebone is obtained. (b)
Any other whale that produces valuable whalebone, as the Atlantic, or Biscay, right whale (
Balaena cisarctica
), and the Pacific right whale (Balaena Sieboldii
); a bone whale. Pygmy right whale
(Zool.)
, a small New Zealand whale
(Neobalaena marginata)
which is only about sixteen feet long. It produces short, but very elastic and tough, whalebone.