orc
1 Americannoun
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any of several cetaceans, as a grampus.
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a mythical monster, as an ogre.
abbreviation
noun
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any of various whales, such as the killer and grampus
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one of an imaginary race of evil goblins, esp in the fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien
Etymology
Origin of orc
First recorded in 1520–30; partly from Middle French orque, a kind of whale, partly from Italian orca “large whale, fabulous sea monster,” partly from Latin orca, a kind of whale; orca ( def. ); Orcus ( def. ), ogre
Compare meaning
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The spell is only broken when the night ends, not with an out-of-control orc or goblin but with something far more mundane: a bill.
From Los Angeles Times
For a while I thought they were heralding an orc attack; now it turns out they may just be grieving.
From Los Angeles Times
We were in the city of Waterdeep, overrun by an orc horde.
From Seattle Times
At another, Monet challenged an orc to solitaire instead of fighting it.
From Seattle Times
New clues emerged after the team discovered that a distant galaxy, which appeared to be enveloped in an ORC, produced a bright fluorescent glow from excited oxygen atoms.
From Science Magazine
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
