Baleen /(bȧ*lēn")/

Ba·leen

Baleen

n.
  1. Plates or blades of “whalebone,” from two to twelve feet long, and sometimes a foot wide, which in certain whales (Balænoidea) are attached side by side along the upper jaw, and form a fringelike sieve by which the food is retained in the mouth. (Zool. & Com.)