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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Porpoise \Por"poise\, noun [OE. porpeys, OF. porpeis, literally, hog fish, from L. porcus swine + piscis fish. See {Pork}, and {Fish}.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) Any small cetacean of the genus {Phoc[ae]na}, especially {Phoc[ae]na communis}, or {Phoc[ae]na phoc[ae]na}, of Europe, and the closely allied American species ({Phoc[ae]na Americana}). The color is dusky or blackish above, paler beneath. They are closely allied to the dolphins, but have a shorter snout. Called also {harbor porpoise}, {herring hag}, {puffing pig}, and {snuffer}.
2. (Zo["o]l.) A true dolphin ({Delphinus}); -- often so called by sailors.
{Skunk porpoise}, or {Bay porpoise} (Zo["o]l.), a North American porpoise ({Lagenorhynchus acutus}), larger than the common species, and with broad stripes of white and yellow on the sides. See Illustration in Appendix.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
porpoise
noun: any of several small gregarious cetacean mammals having a blunt snout and many teeth
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
30 Moby Thesaurus words for "porpoise": Loch Ness monster, alevin, benthon, benthos, cetacean, dolphin, fingerling, fish, fry, game fish, grilse, kipper, man-eater, man-eating shark, marine animal, minnow, minny, nekton, panfish, plankton, salmon, sea monster, sea pig, sea serpent, sea snake, shark, smolt, sponge, tropical fish, whale
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