sar·dine

(sär-dēn′)

1. Any of various edible fishes of the family Clupeidae that are frequently canned, especially small herrings of western Atlantic waters and Sardina pilchardus of European waters.

2. Any of various other small, silvery, edible freshwater or marine fishes.

tr.v. sar·dined, sar·din·ing, sar·dines Slang

To pack tightly; cram: "The bars are sardined with hungry hopefuls" (Gael Greene).

[Middle English sardin, from Old French sardine, from Latin sardīna, from sarda, a kind of fish, ultimately from Greek Sardō, Sardinia.]

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.

sardine

(sɑːˈdiːn)

n, pl -dines or -dine

1. (Animals) any of various small marine food fishes of the herring family, esp a young pilchard. See also sild

2. like sardines very closely crowded together

[C15: via Old French from Latin sardīna, diminutive of sarda a fish suitable for pickling]

sardine

(ˈsɑːdiːn; -dən)

(Minerals) another name for sard

[C14: from Late Latin sardinus, from Greek sardinos lithos Sardian stone, from Sardeis Sardis]

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

sar•dine

(sɑrˈdin)

n., pl. (esp. collectively) -dine, (esp. for kinds or species) -dines.

1. the pilchard, Sardinops sagax, often preserved in oil and used for food.

2. any of various similar, closely related fishes of the herring family Clupeidae.

[1400–50; late Middle English sardeine < Middle French sardine < Latin sardīna]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	sardine - small fatty fish usually canned pilchard saltwater fish - flesh of fish from the sea used as food
	2.	sardine - any of various small edible herring or related food fishes frequently canned food fish - any fish used for food by human beings clupeid, clupeid fish - any of numerous soft-finned schooling food fishes of shallow waters of northern seas sild - any of various young herrings (other than brislings) canned as sardines in Norway Clupea sprattus, sprat, brisling - small herring processed like a sardine
	3.	sardine - a deep orange-red variety of chalcedony sard, sardius calcedony, chalcedony - a milky or greyish translucent to transparent quartz
	4.	sardine - small fishes found in great schools along coasts of Europe; smaller and rounder than herring Sardina pilchardus, pilchard clupeid, clupeid fish - any of numerous soft-finned schooling food fishes of shallow waters of northern seas genus Sardina, genus Sardinia, Sardina - pilchards Pacific sardine, Sardinops caerulea - small pilchards common off the pacific coast of North America

Translations

سَرْدِينسَمَك سَرْدين

sardinka

sardin

sardiini

sardina

szardínia

sardína

sardina stretti come sardine

サーディン

정어리

sardinė

sardīne

sardinka

sardina

sardin

ปลาซาร์ดีน

sardalya

сардинка

cá mòi

沙丁鱼

sardine

[sɑːˈdiːn] N (sardine or sardines (pl)) → sardina f
packed in like sardines → como sardinas en lata

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sardine

[ˈsɑː^rdiːn] n (= fish) → sardine f
packed like sardines → serrés comme des sardines

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

sardine

n → Sardine f; packed (in) like sardines → wie die Sardinen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sardine

[sɑːˈdiːn] n → sardina

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

sardine

(saːˈdiːn) noun

a young pilchard, often packed in oil in small tins.

sardine

→ سَرْدِين sardinka sardin Sardine σαρδέλα sardina sardiini sardine sardina sardina サーディン 정어리 sardine sardin sardynka sardinha сардина sardin ปลาซาร์ดีน sardalya cá mòi 沙丁鱼

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

'Mr Sellers drew that picture of the Waukeesy Shoe and the Restawhile Settee and the tin of sardines in the Little Gem Sardine advertisement.

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We'll just take one of these two-wheeled sardine tins that you people call hansoms, and get round to the hotel as quick as we can.

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My children, beware of popularity; it is a delusion and a snare; it puffeth up the heart of man, and especially of woman; it blindeth the eyes to faults; it exalteth unduly the humble powers of the victim; it is apt to be capricious, and just as one gets to liking the taste of this intoxicating draught, it suddenly faileth, and one is left gasping, like a fish out of water," and Kate emphasized her speech by spearing a sardine with a penknife, and eating it with a groan.

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At any rate the director of the Great Trading Company, coming up in a steamer that resembled an enormous sardine box with a flat-roofed shed erected on it, found the station in good order, and Makola as usual quietly diligent.

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"He's sometimes put into a sardine box," chuckled Toodles, whose erudition on the subject of the fishing industry was fresh and, in comparison with his ignorance of all other industrial matters, immense.

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Relating to a mountain in Thessaly, once inhabited by gods, now a repository of yellowing newspapers, beer bottles and mutilated sardine cans, attesting the presence of the tourist and his appetite.

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O that I could see you all strung by the gills, like sardines on a twig!

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Upon the shingle lounged three or four fishermen talking about sardines and shrimps.

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If the hunter has a taste for mud-turtles, muskrats, and other such savage tidbits, the fine lady indulges a taste for jelly made of a calf's foot, or for sardines from over the sea, and they are even.

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Many thousands of small fish, like sardines, they left dying on the sand when they sailed away.

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Ha!' laughed the ghost, and having peeped through the keyhole at the princesses spinning away for dear life, the evil spirit picked up her victim and put him in a large tin box, where there were eleven other knights packed together without their heads, like sardines, who all rose and began to..."

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We went down to tea at the rest-house, where Stanley stuffed himself with sardines and raspberry jam, and beer, and cold mutton and pickles, when Garm wasn't climbing over him; and then Vixen and I went on.

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