Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—W

Whalebone

(2 syl.). White as whalebone. Our forefathers seemed to confuse the walrus with the whale; ivory was made from the teeth of the walrus, and “white as whalebone” is really a blunder for “white as walrus-ivory.”

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Wharncliffe
Whale
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More on Whalebone from Fact Monster:

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