walrus

/ˈwɔlrəs/

/ˈwɔlrəs/

Other forms: walruses

A walrus is a large mammal that lives in the sea and has big flippers and very long tusks. If you'd like to keep a walrus for a pet, you'll need a big pool full of salt water and plenty of clams, a walrus's favorite snack.

Walruses are very distinctive, both for their tusks and whiskers and their size: some male walruses weigh over 2,000 pounds. They are extremely important in Arctic indigenous culture and are referenced frequently in Western culture as well. A couple of famous examples are Lewis Carroll's oyster-eating walrus in "The Walrus and the Carpenter." and the mysterious reference in the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus."

Definitions of walrus

1. noun

   either of two large northern marine mammals having ivory tusks and tough hide over thick blubber
   synonyms: sea horse, seahorse

   types:

   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

   type of:

   pinnatiped, pinniped, pinniped mammal

   aquatic carnivorous mammal having a streamlined body specialized for swimming with limbs modified as flippers