Definition of "whale-line" [whale-line]

• Rope from 2 to 3 inches in circumference, made with great care from selected material, and used for harpoon-lines in the whale-fishery. (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "Do you suppose that that poor fellow there, who this moment perhaps caught by the whale-line off the coast of"
• "The whale-line is only two thirds of an inch in thickness."
• "Thus the whale-line folds the whole boat in its complicated coils, twisting and writhing around it in almost every direction."