Har*poon" (?), n. [F. harpon, LL. harpo, perh. of Ger. origin, fr. the harp; cf. F. harper to take and grasp strongly, harpe a dog's claw, harpin boathook (the sense of hook coming from the shape of the harp); but cf. also Gr. the kite, sickle, and E. harpy. Cf. Harp.]
A spear or javelin used to strike and kill large fish, as whales; a harping iron. It consists of a long shank, with a broad, fiat, triangular head, sharpened at both edges, and is thrown by hand, or discharged from a gun.
Harpoon fork, a kind of hayfork, consisting of bar with hinged barbs at one end a loop for a rope at the other end, used for lifting hay from the load by horse power. -- Harpoon gun, a gun used in the whale fishery for shooting the harpoon into a whale.
© Webster 1913.
Har*poon", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Harpooned (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Harpooning.]
To strike, catch, or kill with a harpoon.
© Webster 1913.