shark

/ʃɑrk/

/ʃɑk/

Other forms: sharks; sharking; sharked

A shark is a large, carnivorous fish — although it's hard to calmly think, "That's just a large fish" when you run into a shark while you're swimming in the ocean.

Almost all sharks live in the ocean, and while most of them are predators, the very largest sharks feed on plankton and tiny things like fish eggs. There are over four hundred species of shark, but only four have ever harmed humans; nevertheless, people have been afraid of these large, powerful animals for a long time. This dislike gave rise to the informal meaning of shark, "a person who swindles or preys on others."

Definitions of shark

1. noun

   any of numerous elongate mostly marine carnivorous fishes with heterocercal caudal fins and tough skin covered with small toothlike scales
   types:

   Hexanchus griseus, cow shark, six-gilled shark

   large primitive shark widely distributed in warm seas

   mackerel shark

   fierce pelagic and oceanic sharks

   Alopius vulpinus, fox shark, thrasher, thresher, thresher shark

   large pelagic shark of warm seas with a whiplike tail used to round up small fish on which to feed

   Orectolobus barbatus, carpet shark

   shark of the western Pacific with flattened body and mottled skin

   Ginglymostoma cirratum, nurse shark

   small bottom-dwelling shark of warm shallow waters on both coasts of North America and South America and from southeast Asia to Australia

   Carcharias taurus, Odontaspis taurus, sand shark, sand tiger

   shallow-water shark with sharp jagged teeth found on both sides of Atlantic; sometimes dangerous to swimmers

   Rhincodon typus, whale shark

   large spotted shark of warm surface waters worldwide; resembles a whale and feeds chiefly on plankton

   cat shark

   small bottom-dwelling sharks with cat-like eyes; found along continental slopes

   requiem shark

   any of numerous sharks from small relatively harmless bottom-dwellers to large dangerous oceanic and coastal species

   dogfish

   any of several small sharks

   hammerhead, hammerhead shark

   medium-sized live-bearing shark with eyes at either end of a flattened hammer-shaped head; worldwide in warm waters; can be dangerous

   Squatina squatina, angel shark, angelfish, monkfish

   sharks with broad flat bodies and winglike pectoral fins but that swim the way sharks do

   Lamna nasus, porbeagle

   voracious pointed-nose shark of northern Atlantic and Pacific

   mako, mako shark

   powerful mackerel shark of the Atlantic and Pacific

   Carcharodon carcharias, great white shark, man-eater, man-eating shark, white shark

   large aggressive shark widespread in warm seas; known to attack humans

   Cetorhinus maximus, basking shark

   large harmless plankton-eating northern shark; often swims slowly or floats at the sea surface

   Carcharhinus leucas, bull shark, cub shark

   a most common shark in temperate and tropical coastal waters worldwide; heavy-bodied and dangerous

   Carcharhinus plumbeus, sandbar shark

   most common grey shark along coasts of middle Atlantic states; sluggish and occasionally caught by fishermen

   Carcharhinus limbatus, blacktip shark, sandbar shark

   widely distributed shallow-water shark with fins seemingly dipped in ink

   Carcharinus longimanus, oceanic whitetip shark, white-tipped shark, whitetip shark

   large deep-water shark with white-tipped dorsal fin; worldwide distribution; most dangerous shark

   Carcharhinus obscurus, dusky shark

   relatively slender blue-grey shark; nearly worldwide in tropical and temperate waters

   Negaprion brevirostris, lemon shark

   common shallow-water schooling shark of the Atlantic from North Carolina to Brazil and off west Africa; dangerous

   Prionace glauca, blue shark, great blue shark

   slender cosmopolitan, pelagic shark; blue body shades to white belly; dangerous especially during maritime disasters

   Galeocerdo cuvieri, tiger shark

   large dangerous warm-water shark with striped or spotted body

   Galeorhinus zyopterus, soup-fin, soupfin, soupfin shark

   Pacific shark valued for its fins (used by Chinese in soup) and liver (rich in vitamin A)

   smooth dogfish

   small bottom-dwelling shark found along both Atlantic coasts

   spiny dogfish

   small bottom-dwelling dogfishes

   Sphyrna zygaena, smooth hammerhead

   fished for the hides and vitamin-rich liver

   Sphyrna tudes, smalleye hammerhead

   fished for the hide and vitamin-rich liver

   Sphyrna tiburo, bonnet shark, bonnethead, shovelhead

   small harmless hammerhead having a spade-shaped head; abundant in bays and estuaries

   type of:

   elasmobranch, selachian

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

   hunt shark
   type of:

   fish

   catch or try to catch fish or shellfish
3. noun

   a person who is ruthless and greedy and dishonest
   types:

   loan shark, moneylender, shylock, usurer

   someone who lends money at excessive rates of interest

   type of:

   offender, wrongdoer

   a person who transgresses moral or civil law
4. noun

   a person who is unusually skilled in certain ways
   type of:

   expert, pundit

   a person with special knowledge or ability who performs skillfully
5. verb

   play the shark; act with trickery
   type of:

   cheat, chisel

   engage in deceitful behavior; practice trickery or fraud