How to Use harpoon in a Sentence

harpoon

noun
  • Nils, for his part, liked to visit this rock with his harpoon.
    — Brooke Jarvis, The New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2024
  • Lovely used two harpoons and cleaned the shark in the water.
    — Sean Krofssik, Hartford Courant, 4 Aug. 2025
  • Early missions tried harpoons and thrusters, and had a rough time.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 8 Sep. 2023
  • There are cool weapons, like a lethal surface-to-air dragon harpoon.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 22 June 2026
  • As the nudibranch tries to grasp its prey, the prey fires its tiny harpoons at the nudibranch.
    — Helen Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024
  • Someone is then shot with a harpoon, only to have their guts pulled like taffy from the wound.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 20 Feb. 2025
  • The heavy creature then swam back to the boat where the group was able to pull it up on deck with a harpoon and gaffs.
    — Brian Whipkey, USA TODAY, 23 July 2022
  • When the whale was struck, more harpoons were thrown — all attached to floats — to keep the whale from diving.
    — Susanne Rust, Anchorage Daily News, 8 Dec. 2019
  • And if this doesn't work, then maybe the giant space harpoon will eliminate space junk.
    — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 21 June 2019
  • The lander is anchored by neither its harpoons, which failed to fire, nor the ice screws at its feet.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 12 Nov. 2014
  • Lifeguards were given shotguns and harpoons and long lines baited with dead lambs.
    — The Washington Post, AL.com, 31 May 2017
  • Magnets and harpoons Efforts are afoot to address the threats.
    — Jason Thomson, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Apr. 2023
  • Later, the antler was likely repurposed as part of a harpoon, a pointed spear used to catch fish.
    — Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Apr. 2025
  • As a result, Navy ships were limited to just eight Harpoons at a time.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 28 July 2017
  • Concepts include the space equivalent of a net, a magnet, or a harpoon.
    — Jason Thomson, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Apr. 2023
  • Cusack and Streeter would team on three other projects that delivered harpoons to the heart.
    — James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2023
  • Meanwhile, on land, a boy named Jorge discovers a harpoon that has the power to kill sea ghosts.
    — Caroline Carlson june 30, Literary Hub, 30 June 2025
  • The monster truck is shown equipped with a harpoon and flamethrower for the battles on Fury Road.
    — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 9 Sep. 2021
  • Stafford worked to hook another line into the reptile, then Bellinger tried to jab its neck with a harpoon.
    — Patrick Connolly, orlandosentinel.com, 23 July 2018
  • After that contact, the spike becomes free to twist, exposing its harpoon tips.
    — Carl Zimmer, BostonGlobe.com, 14 Feb. 2021
  • The large satellite will attempt to recapture the smaller satellites with a harpoon and a net.
    — Andrea Leinfelder, Houston Chronicle, 20 June 2018
  • Out on the sea hunting a whale with a harpoon, or lost in our cyber world, human beings are still tackling the same issues.
    — Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2023
  • There’s a harpoon here, a miniature sailboat there, plus cozy alcove tables whose mirrors show the patina of age.
    — Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 21 Aug. 2023
  • Additional lines and a harpoon followed before the hunters subdued the gator.
    — Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 8 Sep. 2025
  • At this point, Hinderliter was given a large harpoon with a detachable head affixed to a rope and a float.
    — Bob McNally, Outdoor Life, 13 Feb. 2023
  • Some of the ideas proposed include using nets to gather junk, harpoons to spear and retrieve objects, and robotic arms.
    — Jessie Yeung, CNN, 12 Dec. 2019
  • DeOrbit would snare big pieces of space junk using a net or harpoon and dispatch them Earthward.
    — Corey S Powell, Discover Magazine, 20 May 2015
  • Our guide handed them the tip of a harpoon and then pointed out the window to Mount Greylock off in the distance.
    — Dinaw Mengestu, Travel + Leisure, 21 July 2021
  • Then everything rests on the acuity of the striker in the bow, who holds a darting gun loaded with an exploding harpoon.
    — Author: Julia O'Malley, Alaska Dispatch News, 12 Aug. 2017
  • In the ocean, jellyfish can shoot out their harpoons about 100 times as fast as the shrimp, but the action is not repeatable.
    — Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Mar. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'harpoon.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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