fish

[ fish ]
See synonyms for fish on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural (especially collectively) fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) fish·es.
  1. any of various cold-blooded, aquatic vertebrates, having gills, commonly fins, and typically an elongated body covered with scales.

  2. (loosely) any of various aquatic animals.

  1. the flesh of fishes used as food.

  2. Fishes, Astronomy, Astrology. the constellation or sign of Pisces.

  3. Informal. a person: an odd fish; a poor fish.

  4. a long strip of wood, iron, etc., used to strengthen a mast, joint, etc.

  5. Cards Slang. an incompetent player whose incompetence can be exploited.

  6. Slang. a dollar: He sold the car for 500 fish.

  7. Slang.

    • a new prison inmate.

    • a high school or college freshman; frosh.

verb (used with object)
  1. to catch or attempt to catch (any species of fish or the like).

  2. to try to catch fish in (a stream, lake, etc.): Let's fish the creek.

  1. to draw, as by fishing (often followed by up or out): He fished a coin out of his pocket for the boy.

  2. to search through, as by fishing.

  3. Nautical.

    • to secure (an anchor) by raising the flukes.

    • to reinforce (a mast or other spar) by fastening a spar, batten, metal bar, or the like, lengthwise over a weak place.

verb (used without object)
  1. to catch or attempt to catch fish, as by angling or drawing a net.

  2. to search carefully: He fished through all his pockets but his wallet was gone.

  1. to seek to obtain something indirectly or by artifice: to fish for compliments; to fish for information.

  2. to search for or attempt to catch onto something under water, in mud, etc., by the use of a dredge, rake, hook, or the like.

  3. to attempt to recover detached tools or other loose objects from an oil or gas well.

Verb Phrases
  1. fish out, to deplete (a lake, stream, etc.) of fish by fishing.

Idioms about fish

  1. drink like a fish, to drink alcoholic beverages to excess: Nobody invites him out because he drinks like a fish.

  2. fish in troubled waters, to take advantage of troubled or uncertain conditions for personal profit.

  1. fish or cut bait, to choose a definite course of action, especially to decide whether to participate in or retreat from an activity.

  2. fish out of water, a person out of their proper or accustomed environment: He felt like a fish out of water in an academic atmosphere.

  3. neither fish nor fowl, having no specific character or conviction; neither one nor the other.

  4. other fish to fry, other matters requiring attention: When it was time to act, they had other fish to fry.

Origin of fish

1
First recorded before 900; (noun) Middle English fis(c)h, fyssh, Old English fisc; cognate with Dutch vis, German Fisch, Old Norse fiskr,Gothic fisks; akin to Latin piscis, Irish iasc; (verb) Middle English fishen, Old English fiscian, cognate with Dutch visschen, German fischen, Old Norse fiska, Gothic fiskôn

Other words from fish

  • fish·less, adjective
  • fish·like, adjective
  • out·fish, verb (used with object)
  • un·fished, adjective

Words that may be confused with fish

Words Nearby fish

Other definitions for Fish (2 of 2)

Fish
[ fish ]

noun
  1. Hamilton, 1808–93, U.S. statesman: secretary of state 1869–77.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use fish in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for fish (1 of 2)

fish

/ (fɪʃ) /


nounplural fish or fishes
    • any of a large group of cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates having jaws, gills, and usually fins and a skin covered in scales: includes the sharks and rays (class Chondrichthyes : cartilaginous fishes) and the teleosts, lungfish, etc (class Osteichthyes : bony fishes)

    • (in combination): fishpond Related adjectives: ichthyic, ichthyoid, piscine

  1. any of various similar but jawless vertebrates, such as the hagfish and lamprey

  1. (not in technical use) any of various aquatic invertebrates, such as the cuttlefish, jellyfish, and crayfish

  2. the flesh of fish used as food

  3. informal a person of little emotion or intelligence: a poor fish

  4. short for fishplate

  5. Also called: tin fish an informal word for torpedo (def. 1)

  6. a fine kettle of fish an awkward situation; mess

  7. drink like a fish to drink (esp alcohol) to excess

  8. have other fish to fry to have other activities to do, esp more important ones

  9. like a fish out of water out of one's usual place

  10. make fish of one and flesh of another Irish to discriminate unfairly between people

  11. neither fish, flesh, nor fowl neither this nor that

verb
  1. (intr) to attempt to catch fish, as with a line and hook or with nets, traps, etc

  2. (tr) to fish in (a particular area of water)

  1. to search (a body of water) for something or to search for something, esp in a body of water

  2. (intr foll by for) to seek something indirectly: to fish for compliments

Origin of fish

1
Old English fisc; related to Old Norse fiskr, Gothic fiscs, Russian piskar, Latin piscis

Derived forms of fish

  • fishable, adjective
  • fishlike, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for FISH (2 of 2)

FISH

/ (fɪʃ) /


n acronym for
  1. fluorescence in situ hybridization, a technique for detecting and locating gene mutations and chromosome abnormalities

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for fish

fish

[ fĭsh ]


Plural fish fishes
  1. 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.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with fish

fish

In addition to the idioms beginning with fish

  • fish for
  • fishing expedition
  • fish in troubled waters
  • fish or cut bait
  • fish out
  • fish out of water, a
  • fish story

also see:

  • big fish in a small pond
  • cold fish
  • drink like a fish
  • goldfish bowl
  • kettle of fish
  • like shooting fish in a barrel
  • neither fish nor fowl
  • not the only fish in the sea
  • other fish to fry
  • smell fishy

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.