DCHP-1 Online
dan † [origin uncertain] North 
1 n. a sealskin bag used as a buoy or float.
See also: floater (def. 1) poke ((1))
- 1831 (1963) . . . they returned pursuing a whale which they had harpooned and which we observed by the dan attached to the harpoon line.
- 1940 We steered for the float or "dan" and picked it up, and by hauling on the line, soon brought the walrus to the surface.
2 n. a sealskin bag used by Eskimos for storing or transporting seal or whale oil.
See also: poke ((1))
- 1847 The Esquimaux fill these dans with seal or whale oil, and bring it to the ships for sale.
- 1941 . . . the fat [of a seal] is later pushed back in one great creamy roll. This is later packed into a sealskin bag or "dan" where it will render itself down into blubber.
- 1831 (1963) . . . they returned pursuing a whale which they had harpooned and which we observed by the dan attached to the harpoon line.