fish

fish (f

sh)

n. pl. fish or fish·es

1. Any of numerous cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates of the superclass Pisces, characteristically having fins, gills, and a streamlined body and including specifically:

a. Any of the class Osteichthyes, having a bony skeleton.

b. Any of the class Chondrichthyes, having a cartilaginous skeleton and including the sharks, rays, and skates.

2. The flesh of such animals used as food.

3. Any of various primitive aquatic vertebrates of the class Cyclostomata, lacking jaws and including the lampreys and hagfishes.

4. Any of various unrelated aquatic animals, such as a jellyfish, cuttlefish, or crayfish.

5. Informal A person, especially one considered deficient in something: a poor fish.

v. fished, fish·ing, fish·es

v.intr.

1. To catch or try to catch fish.

2. To look for something by feeling one's way; grope: fished in both pockets for a coin.

3. To seek something in a sly or indirect way: fish for compliments.

v.tr.

a. To catch or try to catch (fish).

b. To catch or try to catch fish in: fish mountain streams.

2. To catch or pull as if fishing: deftly fished the corn out of the boiling water.

Phrasal Verb:

fish out

To deplete (a lake, for example) of fish by fishing.

Idioms:

fish in troubled waters

To try to take advantage of a confused situation.

fish or cut bait Informal

To proceed with an activity or abandon it altogether.

like a fish out of water

Completely unfamiliar with one's surroundings or activity.

neither fish nor fowl

Having no specific characteristics; indefinite.

other fish to fry Informal

Other matters to attend to: He declined to come along to the movie, saying he had other fish to fry.

[Middle English, from Old English fisc.]

fish

Noun

pl fish or fishes

1. a cold-blooded animal with a backbone, gills, and usually fins and a skin covered in scales, that lives in water Related adjective piscine

2. the flesh of fish used as food

3. cold fish a person who shows little emotion

4. drink like a fish to drink alcohol to excess

5. have other fish to fry to have other more important concerns

6. like a fish out of water ill at ease in an unfamiliar situation

Verb

1. to attempt to catch fish

2. to fish in (a particular area of water): the first trawler to fish these waters

3. to grope for and find with some difficulty: he fished a cigarette from his pocket

4. fish for to seek (something) indirectly: he was fishing for compliments [Old English fisc]

fish (f

sh)

Plural fish or fishes

Any of numerous cold-blooded vertebrate animals that live in water. Fish have gills for obtaining oxygen, a lateral line for sensing pressure changes in the water, and a vertical tail. Most fish are covered with scales and have limbs in the form of fins. Fish were once classified together as a single group, but are now known to compose numerous evolutionarily distinct classes, including the bony fish, cartilaginous fish, jawless fish, lobe-finned fish, and placoderms.

fish

anatomy of a female bony fish

Fish

See also biology; zoology

anadromous

a term describing fish that migrate upriver to spawn.

catadromous

a term describing fish that migrate downriver to spawn.

halieutics

1. the activity of fishing.
2. a work on fishing. — halieutic, adj.

ichthyism, ichthyismus

a toxic condition caused by toxic fish roe.

ichthyolatry

the worship of fish or of fish-shaped idols.

ichthyology

1. the branch of zoology that studies fishes.
2. a zoological treatise on fish. — ichthyologist, n. — ichthyological, adj.

ichthyomancy

a form of divination involving the heads or entrails of fish.

ichthyomania

an abnormal love of fish.

ichthyophagy

the practice of eating or subsisting on fish. — ichthyophagist, n. — ichthyophagous, adj.

ichthyophobia

1. a ritual avoidance of fish, especially under the pressure of taboo.
2. an abnormal fear of fish.

ichthyosis

a dermatologie condition in which the skin resembles fish scales. — ichthyotic, adj.

ichthyotomy

the anatomical structure of fishes and its study. — ichthyotomist, n. — ichthyotomic, adj.

piscary

the right of one person to fish in waters belonging to another. See also law.

piscatology

Rare. the art or science of fishing.

piscatorian, piscatorialist

an angler or fisherman.

pisciculture

the breeding of fish, as a hobby or for scientific or commercial purposes. — pisciculturist, n. — piscicultural, adj.

planktology, planktonology

the branch of biology that studies plankton, especially as the sustenance of planktivorous fish.

Waltonian

1. a keen angler or fisherman, after Izaak Walton (1593-1683), English author of The Compleat Angler.
2. an admirer of the works of Izaak Walton. — Waltonian, adj.

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun	1.	fish - 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" 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 aquatic vertebrate - animal living wholly or chiefly in or on water cartilaginous fish, chondrichthian - fishes in which the skeleton may be calcified but not ossified fish scale - scale of the kind that covers the bodies of fish roe - eggs of female fish milt - seminal fluid produced by male fish lateral line, lateral line organ - sense organs of fish and amphibians; believed to detect pressure changes in the water fin - organ of locomotion and balance in fishes and some other aquatic animals caudal fin, tail fin - the tail of fishes and some other aquatic vertebrates fishbone - a bone of a fish Pisces - a group of vertebrates comprising both cartilaginous and bony fishes and sometimes including the jawless vertebrates; not used technically 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 shoal, school - a large group of fish; "a school of small glittering fish swam by"
	2.	fish - the flesh of fish used as food; "in Japan most fish is eaten raw"; "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" solid food, food - any solid substance (as opposed to liquid) that is used as a source of nourishment; "food and drink" 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
	3.	Fish - (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Pisces Pisces individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul - a human being; "there was too much for one person to do" astrology, star divination - a pseudoscience claiming divination by the positions of the planets and sun and moon
	4.	Fish - the twelfth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about February 19 to March 20 Pisces, Pisces the Fishes
Verb	1.	fish - seek indirectly; "fish for compliments" angle look for, search, seek - try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of; "The police are searching for clues"; "They are searching for the missing man in the entire county"
	2.	fish - catch or try to catch fish or shellfish; "I like to go fishing on weekends" crab - fish for crab seine - fish with a seine; catch fish with a seine scollop, scallop - fish for scallops rail - fish with a handline over the rails of a boat; "They are railing for fresh fish" 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 grab, take hold of, catch - take hold of so as to seize or restrain or stop the motion of; "Catch the ball!"; "Grab the elevator door!"

fish

verb 1. angle, net, cast, trawl

verb 2. look (for), search, delve, ferret, rummage, fossick Austral., N.Z.

fish for something seek, look for, angle for, try to get, hope for, hunt for, hint at, elicit, solicit, invite, search for

fish something out

verb 1. pull out, produce, take out, extract, bring out, extricate, haul out, find >> adjectives piscine, ichthyoid >> young fry >> collective nouns shoal see see, sharks

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