| / English Dictionary |
WALRUS
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Either of two large northern marine mammals having ivory tusks and tough hide over thick blubber
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("walrus" is a kind of...):
pinnatiped; pinniped; pinniped mammal (aquatic carnivorous mammal having a streamlined body specialized for swimming with limbs modified as flippers)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "walrus"):
Atlantic walrus; Odobenus rosmarus (a walrus of northern Atlantic and Arctic waters)
Odobenus divergens; Pacific walrus (a walrus of the Bering Sea and northern Pacific)
Holonyms ("walrus" is a member of...):
genus Odobenus; Odobenus (type genus of the Odobenidae: walruses)
Context examples:
New DNA analysis reveals that, before their mysterious disappearance, the Norse colonies of Greenland had a “near monopoly” on Europe’s walrus ivory supply.
(Lost Norse of Greenland fuelled the medieval ivory trade, ancient walrus DNA suggests, University of Cambridge)
If the original hunting grounds of the Greenland Norse, around Disko Bay, were overexploited, they may have journeyed as far north as Smith Sound to find sufficient herds of walrus, said Barrett.
(Over-hunting walruses contributed to the collapse of Norse Greenland, University of Cambridge)
DNA was extracted from walrus sites and archaeological excavations of walrus samples and compared with data from contemporary walruses, documenting that the Icelandic walrus constituted a genetically unique lineage, distinct from all other historic and contemporary walrus populations in the North Atlantic.
(Extinction of Icelandic walrus coincides with Norse settlement, National Science Foundation)
They say that ivory from western linage walruses must have been supplied by the Norse Greenlanders – by hunting and perhaps also by trade with the indigenous peoples of Arctic North America.
(Lost Norse of Greenland fuelled the medieval ivory trade, ancient walrus DNA suggests, University of Cambridge)
Barrett points out that the Inuit of the region favoured female walruses when hunting, so the prevalence of females in Greenland’s later exports could imply a growing Norse reliance on Inuit supply.
(Over-hunting walruses contributed to the collapse of Norse Greenland, University of Cambridge)
Ornate items including crucifixes and chess pieces were fashioned from walrus ivory by craftsmen of the age.
(Lost Norse of Greenland fuelled the medieval ivory trade, ancient walrus DNA suggests, University of Cambridge)
There is little evidence of walrus ivory imports to mainland Europe after 1400.
(Over-hunting walruses contributed to the collapse of Norse Greenland, University of Cambridge)
Later Icelandic accounts suggest that in the 1120s, Greenlanders used walrus ivory to secure the right to their own bishopric from the king of Norway.
(Lost Norse of Greenland fuelled the medieval ivory trade, ancient walrus DNA suggests, University of Cambridge)
We suspect that decreasing values of walrus ivory in Europe meant more and more tusks were harvested to keep the Greenland colonies economically viable.
(Over-hunting walruses contributed to the collapse of Norse Greenland, University of Cambridge)
Some have suggested that trading commodities – most notably walrus tusks – with Europe may have been vital to sustaining the Greenlanders.
(Lost Norse of Greenland fuelled the medieval ivory trade, ancient walrus DNA suggests, University of Cambridge)
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