walruses - Simple English Wiktionary (2024)

FAQs

Is walrus singular? ›

noun,plural wal·rus·es, (especially collectively) wal·rus. a large marine mammal, Odobenus nosmarus, of Arctic seas, related to the seals, and having flippers, a pair of large tusks, and a tough, wrinkled skin.

A Group of Walrus is called a Huddle. Now You Know. Your Animal Groups! Other accepted group names for walrus are herd, colony or pod.

The common name, walrus, originated with the Danish word hvalros, meaning "sea horse" or "sea cow". The Russian word for walrus is morzh.

From English walrus, from Danish hvalros, an inversion of Old Norse hrosshvalr (literally “horse-whale”).

Even though they are sexually mature, males do not usually mate until around age 15, and females don't begin mating until age 10. Pacific walruses mate between December and March. The females meet the males to mate when they return from their migration north.

Life history: Walrus calves are born in late April or early May during the spring migration. They weigh about 140 pounds (64 kg) at birth. Calves are dependent upon their mothers for at least 18 months and occasionally for as long as 2 1/2 years. Most females do not begin to breed until 6 or 7 years of age.

Facts. Odobenus rosmarus is the only member of the family Odobenidae (Boessenecker 2013) Female walruses are called cows and the male walruses are called bulls (Riedman 1990) Female walruses tend to choose their mate based on the visual and vocal displays the males perform (Riedman 1990)

Walruses use their tusks to help them climb up on ice, fight predators, and threaten and fight each other. Both male and female walruses have tusks. Some walruses kill and eat seals and seabirds.

A female generally gives birth to a single calf at a time. Twins are rare, although they have been reported. Newborn calves weigh about 45 to 75 kg (99-165 lb.)

The generic name is derived from the Inuit word for walrus, aivuk.

What does walrus mean in slang? ›

In most contexts it's a demeaning connotation. Calling someone a walrus either means you're calling them fat, ugly, or both.

Frank Bakke-Jensen, the director general of fisheries, stated that the decision to euthanise Freya was based "on an overall assessment of the continued threat to human safety", saying also that "animal welfare was not being maintained".

What else does the Walrus symbolize as a power animal? “Shamans tell us Walrus Spirit is the keeper of ancient knowledge and wisdom. Walrus looms larger than life in our awareness, all two tons, reminding us of the value of seeing a bigger picture.

The scientific name for the walrus, Odobenus rosmarus, is Latin for “tooth walking sea-horse.”

walrus /ˈwɑːlrəs/ noun. plural walrus or walruses.

Only some words of Latin extraction ending in -us, which were second declension nouns in Latin, take -i as plural. Walrus comes from Dutch, and is akin to Danish and Norwegian hvalros. It is not a Latin second declension noun, so there is no reason it would be pluralized with -i. The plural of walrus is walruses.

The plural of walrus is currently "walruses." This is incorrect and blasphemous. Walri is the proper and more commonly accepted term.

Nouns that don't change in their plural forms (called “zero plurals”) include “series,” “aircraft” and “species.” But most zero-plural words refer to animals, e.g., deer, moose, sheep, elk, walrus, antelope, fish, buffalo, salmon.