whalebone
- n a horny material from the upper jaws of certain whales; used as the ribs of fans or as stays in corsets
- The militancy of the church was manifest when watchful Papal gendarmes caught Giuseppe de Palois with the goods and the whalebone, announced him to the world as the first thief .
- By day the women cooked, cleaned, sewed and ironed, using whalebone plaques as boards and running a heavy stone or glass smoother over the seams of garments.
- Last week Manhattan's American Museum of Natural History placed on exhibition her remains, whalebone and alllargest skeleton of the species ever to pass under the scrutiny of .