A large spear or barbed weapon with a rope attached, thrown or shot to catch large fish or whales.
From French 'harpon,' derived from 'harpe' meaning 'to grip' or 'to seize.' The word entered English during the 16th century as whaling became an important industry.
Harpoons revolutionized whaling but also created a gruesome arms race—whalers kept making them more deadly with explosive tips and barbs, but whales kept evolving behaviors to escape (like diving deeper), so hunting them became increasingly dangerous and difficult.
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