fish

/fɪʃ/

/fɪʃ/

Other forms: fishing; fishes; fished

A fish is a cold-blooded aquatic vertebrate with scales and gills, like a shark, a trout, or a pike. To fish is to try to catch a fish.

Fish comes from an old German version of the Latin word for "fish," piscus, from which you might recognize the astrological sign Pisces. The word can describe either the creature or the meat from the creature. When fish is a verb, it can be used literally for the act of trying to catch a fish, or metaphorically for trying to find something, like fishing for someone's name in your memory.

Definitions of fish

1. noun

   any of various mostly cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates usually having scales and breathing through gills
   “the shark is a large fish”

   “in the living room there was a tank of colorful fish”

   types:

   bottom-dweller, bottom-feeder

   a fish that lives and feeds on the bottom of a body of water

   bottom lurkers

   a fish that lurks on the bottom of a body of water

   cartilaginous fish, chondrichthian

   fishes in which the skeleton may be calcified but not ossified

   fingerling

   a young or small fish

   game fish, sport fish

   any fish providing sport for the angler

   food fish

   any fish used for food by human beings

   rough fish

   any fish useless for food or sport or even as bait

   young fish

   a fish that is young

   mouthbreeder

   any of various fishes that carry their eggs and their young in their mouths

   spawner

   a female fish at spawning time

   northern snakehead

   a voracious freshwater fish that is native to northeastern China; can use fin to walk and can survive out of water for three days; a threat to American populations of fish

   bony fish

   any fish of the class Osteichthyes

   A. testudineus, Anabas testudineus, climbing perch

   a small perch of India whose gills are modified to allow it to breathe air; has spiny pectoral fins that enable it to travel on land

   holocephalan, holocephalian

   fish with high compressed head and a body tapering off into a long tail

   elasmobranch, selachian

   any of numerous fishes of the class Chondrichthyes characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton and placoid scales: sharks; rays; skates

   bottom fish, groundfish

   fish that live on the sea bottom (particularly the commercially important gadoid fish like cod and haddock, or flatfish like flounder)

   parr

   the young of various fishes

   barracouta, snoek

   a large marine food fish common on the coasts of Australia, New Zealand, and southern Africa

   crossopterygian, lobe-finned fish, lobefin

   any fish of the order Crossopterygii; most known only in fossil form

   lungfish

   air-breathing fish having an elongated body and fleshy paired fins; certain species construct mucus-lined mud coverings in which to survive drought

   teleost, teleost fish, teleostan

   a bony fish of the subclass Teleostei

   whitebait

   the edible young of especially herrings and sprats and smelts

   brit, britt

   the young of a herring or sprat or similar fish

   shad

   herring-like food fishes that migrate from the sea to fresh water to spawn

   Clupea harangus, herring

   commercially important food fish of northern waters of both Atlantic and Pacific

   sardine

   any of various small edible herring or related food fishes frequently canned

   salmon

   any of various large food and game fishes of northern waters; usually migrate from salt to fresh water to spawn

   parr

   a young salmon up to 2 years old

   trout

   any of various game and food fishes of cool fresh waters mostly smaller than typical salmons

   whitefish

   silvery herring-like freshwater food fish of cold lakes of the northern hemisphere

   sea bass

   any of various food and sport fishes of the Atlantic coast of the United States having an elongated body and long spiny dorsal fin

   snapper

   any of several large sharp-toothed marine food and sport fishes of the family Lutjanidae of mainly tropical coastal waters

   mullet

   bottom dwelling marine warm water fishes with two barbels on the chin

   tuna, tunny

   any very large marine food and game fish of the genus Thunnus; related to mackerel; chiefly of warm waters

   sole

   right-eyed flatfish; many are valued as food; most common in warm seas especially European

   type of:

   aquatic vertebrate

   animal living wholly or chiefly in or on water
2. noun

   the flesh of fish used as food
   “after the scare about foot-and-mouth disease a lot of people started eating fish instead of meat”

   “they have a chef who specializes in fish”

   types:

   panfish

   any of numerous small food fishes; especially those caught with hook and line and not available on the market

   stockfish

   fish cured by being split and air-dried without salt

   anchovy

   tiny fishes usually canned or salted; used for hors d'oeuvres or as seasoning in sauces

   eel

   the fatty flesh of eel; an elongate fish found in fresh water in Europe and America; large eels are usually smoked or pickled

   gray mullet, grey mullet, mullet

   highly valued lean flesh of marine or freshwater mullet

   alewife

   flesh of shad-like fish abundant along the Atlantic coast or in coastal streams

   schrod, scrod

   flesh of young Atlantic cod weighing up to 2 pounds; also young haddock and pollock; often broiled

   haddock

   lean white flesh of fish similar to but smaller than cod; usually baked or poached or as fillets sauteed or fried

   hake

   the lean flesh of a fish similar to cod

   trout

   flesh of any of several primarily freshwater game and food fishes

   rock salmon

   any of several coarse fishes (such as dogfish or wolffish) when used as food

   salmon

   flesh of any of various marine or freshwater fish of the family Salmonidae

   shad

   bony flesh of herring-like fish usually caught during their migration to fresh water for spawning; especially of Atlantic coast

   smelt

   small cold-water silvery fish; migrate between salt and fresh water

   smoked eel

   eel cured by smoking

   elver

   young eel; may be sauteed or batter-fried

   finnan, finnan haddie, finnan haddock, smoked haddock

   haddock usually baked but sometimes broiled with lots of butter

   rainbow trout

   flesh of Pacific trout that migrate from salt to fresh water

   salmon trout, sea trout

   flesh of marine trout that migrate from salt to fresh water

   Atlantic salmon

   fatty pink flesh of fish from northern coastal Atlantic; usually marketed fresh

   red salmon, sockeye, sockeye salmon

   fatty red flesh of salmon of Pacific coast and rivers

   chinook, chinook salmon, king salmon

   pink or white flesh of large Pacific salmon

   coho, coho salmon, cohoe, silver salmon

   fatty pinkish flesh of small salmon caught in the Pacific and Great Lakes

   smoked salmon

   salmon cured by smoking

   kippered salmon

   salted and smoked salmon

   American smelt, rainbow smelt

   common smelt of eastern North America and Alaska

   European smelt, sparling

   common smelt of Europe

   type of:

   food, solid food

   any solid substance (as opposed to liquid) that is used as a source of nourishment
3. verb

   catch or try to catch fish or shellfish
   “I like to go fishing on weekends”

   types:

   crab

   fish for crab

   seine

   fish with a seine; catch fish with a seine

   scallop, scollop

   fish for scallops

   rail

   fish with a handline over the rails of a boat

   brail

   haul fish aboard with brails

   angle

   fish with a hook

   shrimp

   fish for shrimp

   net fish

   fish with nets

   shark

   hunt shark

   trawl

   fish with trawlers

   still-fish

   fish with the line and bait resting still or stationary in the water

   prawn

   fish for prawns

   fly-fish, flyfish

   fish with flies as lures

   troll

   angle with a hook and line drawn through the water

   type of:

   catch, grab, take hold of

   take hold of so as to seize or restrain or stop the motion of
4. verb

   seek indirectly
   “fish for compliments”

   synonyms: angle

   type of:

   look for, search, seek

   try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of