toadfish

American  

[tohd-fish] / ˈtoʊdˌfɪʃ /

noun

• toadfish,
  plural
• toadfishes
  plural

1. any of several thick-headed, wide-mouthed fishes of the family Batrachoididae, as Opsanus tau oyster toadfish, or ugly toad, ranging along the Atlantic coast of the United States.

2. puffer.

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toadfish British  

/ ˈtəʊdˌfɪʃ /

noun

1. any spiny-finned bottom-dwelling marine fish of the family Batrachoididae, of tropical and temperate seas, having a flattened tapering body and a wide mouth

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• toadfish
  plural
• toadfishes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of toadfish

First recorded in 1605–15; toad + fish

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

toadfish toadfishes

To investigate the process, researchers conducted laboratory experiments using Gulf toadfish exposed to water with different salt concentrations.

From Science Daily ● May 31, 2026

At one point, the group discovers a plainfin midshipman, a member of the toadfish family, languid and big-lipped in the sunny shallow.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 18, 2022

The research began when Dr. Chagnaud, who studies the vibrating vocalizations of toadfish, wanted to compare the fish to rattlesnakes, which use similar muscles to rattle their tails.

From New York Times ● Aug. 19, 2021

When I was a child on Long Island, I would hear toadfish croaking through the thin hull of my aluminum rowboat.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 30, 2018

Those which I remember to have seen there of the kinds that are not eaten are the whale, porpoise, shark, dogfish, gar, stingray, thornback, sawfish, toadfish, frogfish, land crabs, fiddlers, and periwinkle.

From The Bounty of the Chesapeake Fishing in Colonial Virginia by James Wharton

In addition, there are small killifishes whose closest relatives are found in the Seychelles, and freshwater toadfishes with affinities to species in India.

From New York Times ● Jun. 13, 2011

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