finner
(ˈfɪnə(r))
[f. fin n.1 + -er1.]
1. A name given to whales of the genus Balænoptera, esp. the Rorqual, from the fact of their having a dorsal fin. Also finner-whale.
| 1793 Statist. Acc. Scotl. V. 190 These [whales] commonly measure from 60 to 90 feet in length and are denominated finners. 1822 Scott Pirate ii, The Berserkars used to..snap them [swords and spears] all up into pieces, as a finner would go through a herring net. 1855 E. Forbes Lit. Papers v. 152 The mighty finners (Balænoptera), whose prodigious fleetness makes them too dangerous to encounter. 1865 Athenæum No. 1987. 732/3 Skeleton of a finner whale. 1880 Daily News 8 Dec. 6/7 The great northern Rorqual Razorback, or ‘Finner’. |
2. = finnoc.
| 1803 J. Mackenzie Prize Ess. Highl. Soc. II. 377 Finners or finnocs, which usually abound in every salmon river, have fins of a yellow colour. |