Illustration of white whale
- white whale 1
white whale
noun
1
2
or less commonly great white whale
: something (such as a goal or object) that is obsessively pursued
It was the old man's white whale, the holy grail shining at the end of the dream, on and off the rails, as he chased scripts, directors, and movie stars of the proper magnitude.—
Rich Cohen
Rich CohenFor drug makers, developing the first Alzheimer's therapy has long been seen as the great white whale: the toughest challenge and biggest opportunity.—Robert Weisman
Robert Weisman
Examples of white whale in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
For years, Gelman chased the Topps Mexican set like a proverbial white whale, really the only way to have a chance to capture it.
—Michael Salfino, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2025
The Clippers star has been something of a white whale for Peranidze, who may be the world’s greatest online impersonator of professional basketball players.
—Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2025
The Oilers have clearly become the Kings’ white whale, the foe who must be vanquished.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2024
The film's brash, documentary-style production perfectly captured Hackman's character, a seething, sadistic NYC cop seeking to bust a ring of heroin smugglers — like Ahab on the hunt for the white whale.
—David Morgan, CBS News, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for white whale
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Michael Salfino, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2025
The Clippers star has been something of a white whale for Peranidze, who may be the world’s greatest online impersonator of professional basketball players.
—Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2025
The Oilers have clearly become the Kings’ white whale, the foe who must be vanquished.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2024
The film's brash, documentary-style production perfectly captured Hackman's character, a seething, sadistic NYC cop seeking to bust a ring of heroin smugglers — like Ahab on the hunt for the white whale.
—David Morgan, CBS News, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for white whale
Cite this Entry
“White whale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/white%20whale. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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