butterfish

but·ter·fish

 (bŭt′ər-fĭsh′)

n. pl. butterfish or but·ter·fish·es

1. Any of various fishes of the family Stromateidae having tender oily flesh, especially Peprilus triacanthus of the North American Atlantic coast.

2. Any of various other fishes having oily flesh or slippery skin.

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[Originally applied to a species of gunnel found in British waters, noted for its slippery coating of mucus.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

butterfish

(ˈbʌtəˌfɪʃ)

n, pl -fish or -fishes

1. (Animals) an eel-like blennioid food fish, Pholis gunnellus, occurring in North Atlantic coastal regions: family Pholidae (gunnels). It has a slippery scaleless golden brown skin with a row of black spots along the base of the long dorsal fin

2. (Animals) Also called: greenbone or marari (Māori)an edible reef fish, Coridodax pullus, of esp S New Zealand. It has a slippery purplish-grey to olive-green skin and is often found browsing on kelp

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

but•ter•fish

(ˈbʌt ərˌfɪʃ)

n., pl. (esp. collectively) -fish•es, (esp. for kinds or species) -fish.

a small, flattened marine food fish, Peprilus triacanthus, of U.S. Atlantic coastal waters.

[1665–75]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	butterfish - any of numerous small flat Atlantic food fish having smooth skin Pholis gunnellus, rock gunnel, butterfish - slippery scaleless food fish of the northern Atlantic coastal waters stromateid, stromateid fish, butterfish - small marine fish with a short compressed body and feeble spines saltwater fish - flesh of fish from the sea used as food
	2.	butterfish - small marine fish with a short compressed body and feeble spines stromateid, stromateid fish percoid, percoid fish, percoidean - any of numerous spiny-finned fishes of the order Perciformes family Stromateidae, Stromateidae - butterfishes: harvest fishes; dollar fishes dollarfish, Poronotus triacanthus - small food fish of Atlantic coast California pompano, palometa, Palometa simillima - smaller than Florida pompano; common in West Indies harvestfish, Paprilus alepidotus - butterfish up to a foot long of Atlantic waters from Chesapeake Bay to Argentina driftfish - small (6 inches) tropical butterfishes found worldwide driftfish - larger butterfishes of the western Atlantic from the New York area to the northern Gulf of Mexico barrelfish, black rudderfish, Hyperglyphe perciformis - blackish fish of New England waters butterfish - any of numerous small flat Atlantic food fish having smooth skin
	3.	butterfish - slippery scaleless food fish of the northern Atlantic coastal waters Pholis gunnellus, rock gunnel bracketed blenny, gunnel - small eellike fishes common in shallow waters of the northern Atlantic genus Pholis, Pholis - type genus of the Pholidae: gunnels butterfish - any of numerous small flat Atlantic food fish having smooth skin

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