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# porpoise

noun (a porpoise, porpoises)

«porpoise» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

A porpoise is a sea mammal like a small dolphin, with a short, round snout, a rounded head, a small triangular back fin and flat, spade-shaped teeth. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porpoise/#m1)

### In the lessons

In science lessons, porpoises are cetaceans, like whales and dolphins: they breathe air through a blowhole, are warm-blooded and feed their babies milk. The harbour porpoise lives around the coasts of Britain, Ireland and North America and is shy. The vaquita, a tiny porpoise in Mexico, is the most endangered sea mammal in the world, often caught in fishing nets. Phrases: «harbour porpoise», «a pod of porpoises».

### Examples

- We saw a porpoise from the ferry. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porpoise/#x1)
- Porpoises are smaller than most dolphins. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porpoise/#x2)
- A porpoise breathes through a blowhole on top of its head. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porpoise/#x3)
- Harbour porpoises live in the cold seas around Britain. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porpoise/#x4)
- The vaquita is a porpoise that is nearly extinct. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porpoise/#x5)
- Porpoises hunt fish using echoes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porpoise/#x6)
- One would have thought that Pinocchio had turned into a porpoise playing in the sun. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porpoise/#x7)

### Note

Plural «porpoises». Spelling: por-poise; say POR-pus. Trap: «purpose» (a reason or aim) sounds similar but is a different word. Porpoise vs dolphin: porpoises have rounded snouts and spade-shaped teeth; most dolphins have a beak-like snout and cone-shaped teeth.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «porpoise» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porpoise/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«porpoise» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/porpoise.html) on Mova free.