How to Use porpoise in a Sentence

porpoise

noun
Definition of porpoisenext
  • A dozen porpoises swam past, between the near ship and the shore.
    — David Owen, The New Yorker, 29 May 2017
  • At the time, DiCaprio explained, there were fewer than 30 of the vaquita — a tiny porpoise — in the world.
    — Kc Baker, PEOPLE.com, 8 Nov. 2019
  • The porpoise washed up on the shore near Harbor Point housing complex.
    — Laney Ruckstuhl, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Mar. 2018
  • The magic vessel could be a yacht or a galley, a porpoise or a mermaid.
    — Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 13 June 2019
  • And, of course, put aside some time to get out on the ocean to see some of the 27 species of whales and porpoises that call these temperate waters home.
    — Sebastian Modak, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Mar. 2018
  • The challenge is amplified by the fact that there are so few of the diminutive porpoises left.
    — CBS News, 30 June 2018
  • At the bridge, watch for basking sharks, porpoises, and dolphins.
    — Jamie Moore, USA TODAY, 26 Apr. 2018
  • Ice isn't the only attraction on these boats: keep an eye out for whales and wildlife, puffins and porpoises, too.
    — Josh Niva, Anchorage Daily News, 2 May 2018
  • The nets also drown vaquitas, a small porpoise that lives only in the Gulf — also known as the Sea of Cortes — of which perhaps as few as 10 remain.
    — Mark Stevenson, The Seattle Times, 29 Mar. 2019
  • But that may not yet spell doom for the vaquita porpoise, according to new research.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN, 5 May 2022
  • Echo Hunter would have been about the size of a modern day harbor porpoise, and would have resembled a small dolphin, Dr. Churchill said.
    — Jonah Engel Bromwich, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2016
  • Lake sturgeon, which also make a spring spawning migration up the Wolf, porpoise near the raft.
    — Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 20 June 2018
  • The porpoise remains have been removed from the site, and will be examined by a marine expert.
    — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, 21 Sep. 2017
  • Both confirmed that what Austin thought was a porpoise was actually a great white shark.
    — Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 3 Aug. 2023
  • His contemporaries named the Dall’s porpoise and Dall sheep after him.
    — Ned Rozell, Anchorage Daily News, 31 Dec. 2022
  • Garbage, often. Porpoises, sometimes, for the shores of the Netherlands are teeming with hundreds of thousands of them.
    — The Washington Post, The Denver Post, 15 June 2017
  • Although fishing boats might not target the porpoises, they are often tangled in the nets or struck by boats.
    — Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 23 Sep. 2023
  • Orcas have the most varied diet of any whale, dolphin or porpoise, and can take on prey of all types, from stingrays to salmon, depending on the type of orca.
    — Lynda V. Mapes, The Seattle Times, 25 Sep. 2018
  • There's no guarantee the dolphin knocked him off on purpose (porpoise?).
    — Scott Berson, miamiherald, 1 May 2018
  • During Sunday's episode, the time-traveling doctor proved her worth again after jumping off the side of the porpoise into the ocean.
    — Sydney Bucksbaum, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Nov. 2017
  • Kenai is also a wildlife-lover’s paradise, home to orcas and humpbacks, puffins, porpoises, and much more.
    — National Geographic, 17 June 2019
  • During one outing, Corbett found a group of three killer whales chasing a pod of 15 porpoises (which also eat salmon).
    — Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 16 Jan. 2020
  • But the tale of the sea turtle has taken a different route than that of the highly endangered rhino and a nearly extinct porpoise called the vaquita.
    — Gabe Andrews, Scientific American, 31 Jan. 2022
  • The fantasy imagines the finless porpoises as guardians of the Yangtze River delta, with one who can turn herself into a human princess.
    — Patrick Frater, Variety, 12 Mar. 2023
  • Monks would have been able to easily catch the porpoise after tide waters receded.
    — Sarah Gibbens, National Geographic, 21 Sep. 2017
  • The vaquita porpoise will be extinct in a matter of years, with the Māui dolphin and North Atlantic right whale likely following close behind.
    — Spencer Roberts, Wired, 24 Oct. 2021
  • Vaquita porpoises are often caught in the nets, causing their population to drop to about 30.
    — Elliot Spagat, The Seattle Times, 19 May 2017
  • Daniele Gaither is that one (possibly black) porpoise in the Netflix cartoon Bojack Horseman.
    — Brandon R. Reynolds, Los Angeles Magazine, 19 Jan. 2018
  • Orca–or killer whales–are the ultimate apex predators, who have been observed attacking great white sharks, porpoises, and even blue whales.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 20 Mar. 2024
  • Toothed whales include, orcas, sperm whales, dolphins, and porpoises.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 21 Feb. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'porpoise.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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