a barbed spear-like missile attached to a long rope and thrown by hand or fired from a gun, used for catching whales and other large sea creatures (捕鲸等大型海洋动物的)鱼镖
verb
[with obj.]spear (something) with a harpoon 用鱼镖刺
派生 harpooner noun 语源
early 17th cent. (denoting a barbed dart or spear): from French harpon, from harpe 'dog's claw, clamp', via Latin from Greek harpē 'sickle'