whitefish

American  

[hwahyt-fish, wahyt-] / ˈʰwaɪtˌfɪʃ, ˈwaɪt- /

noun

whitefishes plural

1. any of several fishes of the family Coregonidae, inhabiting northern waters of North America and Eurasia, similar to the trout but having a smaller mouth and larger scales.

2. a marine food fish of California, Caulolatilus princeps.

3. any of various silvery fishes of the minnow or carp family.

4. the beluga, Delphinapterus leucas.

---

whitefish British  

/ ˈwaɪtˌfɪʃ /

noun

1. any herring-like salmonoid food fish of the genus Coregonus and family Coregonidae, typically of deep cold lakes of the N hemisphere, having large silvery scales and a small head

---

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• whitefishes
  plural
• whitefish
  plural

Etymology

Origin of whitefish

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English; see origin at white, fish

Example Sentences

We could have been in a sailor’s tavern in Whitefish Bay in 1975.

From Slate • Nov. 10, 2025

About 30 hours later, near Michigan’s Whitefish Point and during a violent storm on Nov. 10, 1975, the big ship broke apart and sank with its 29 men.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 3, 2025

The last three USC centers were floating down Whitefish River last July, marveling at the Montana mountains, when suddenly Brett Neilon and his tube went careening into the river bank.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 20, 2024

Now, he’s a founding member of the Whitefish Food and Wine Festival team.

From Salon • Sep. 7, 2024

In Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, at least a thousand myrtle warblers could be seen in migration during former years; in 1958, after the spraying of the elms, observers could find only two.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson