fillet

American  

[fil-it, fi-ley] / ˈfɪl ɪt, fɪˈleɪ /

noun

fillets plural

1. Cooking.

   1. a boneless cut or slice of meat or fish, especially the beef tenderloin.

   2. a piece of veal or other meat boned, rolled, and tied for roasting.

2. a narrow band of ribbon or the like worn around the head, usually as an ornament; headband.

3. any narrow strip, as wood or metal.

4. a strip of any material used for binding.

5. Bookbinding.

   1. a decorative line impressed on a book cover, usually at the top and bottom of the back.

   2. a rolling tool for impressing such lines.

6. Architecture.

   1. Also called list.  a narrow flat molding or area, raised or sunk between larger moldings or areas.

   2. a narrow portion of the surface of a column left between adjoining flutes.

7. Anatomy. lemniscus.

8. a raised rim or ridge, as a ring on the muzzle of a gun.

9. Metallurgy. a concave strip forming a rounded interior angle in a foundry pattern.

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verb (used with object)

fillets, present (3rd person singular) filleted, past participle, past filleting present participle

1. Cooking.

   1. to cut or prepare (meat or fish) as a fillet.

   2. to cut fillets from.

2. to bind or adorn with or as if with a fillet.

3. Machinery. to round off (an interior angle) with a fillet.

fillet British  

/ ˈfɪlɪt /

noun

1. 1. Also called: fillet steak.  a strip of boneless meat, esp the undercut of a sirloin of beef

   2. the boned side of a fish

   3. the white meat of breast and wing of a chicken

2. a narrow strip of any material

3. a thin strip of ribbon, lace, etc, worn in the hair or around the neck

4. a narrow flat moulding, esp one between other mouldings

5. a narrow band between two adjacent flutings on the shaft of a column

6. Also called: fillet weld.  a narrow strip of welded metal of approximately triangular cross-section used to join steel members at right angles

7. heraldry a horizontal division of a shield, one quarter of the depth of the chief

8. Also called: listel.   list.  the top member of a cornice

9. Technical name: lemniscus.  anatomy a band of sensory nerve fibres in the brain connected to the thalamus

10. 1. a narrow decorative line, impressed on the cover of a book

    2. a wheel tool used to impress such lines

11. another name for fairing 1

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verb

1. to cut or prepare (meat or fish) as a fillet

2. to cut fillets from (meat or fish)

3. anatomy to surgically remove a bone from (part of the body) so that only soft tissue remains

4. to bind or decorate with or as if with a fillet

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• fillets
  plural

Participles

• filleting
  present
• filleted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• fillet
  simple
• fillets
  simple
• have filleted
  perfect
• has filleted
  perfect
• am filleting
  progressive
• are filleting
  progressive
• is filleting
  progressive
• have been filleting
  perfect progressive
• has been filleting
  perfect progressive

Past

• filleted
  simple
• had filleted
  perfect
• was filleting
  progressive
• were filleting
  progressive
• had been filleting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will fillet
  simple
• will have filleted
  perfect
• will be filleting
  progressive
• will have been filleting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of fillet

1300–50; Middle English filet < Anglo-French, Middle French, equivalent to fil thread + -et -et

Explanation

A fillet is a specially cut piece of meat or fish. If you order a fillet of salmon at a restaurant, it won't have any bones in it. You can eat a fish fillet or a fillet of beef — either one will be boneless. If you cut a fillet yourself, you fillet the meat. The oldest meaning of the noun fillet, one that's rare today, is "a ribbon worn around the head." It comes from the French filet, the diminutive form of fil, or "thread." The meat meaning came from the technique of tying it with a string before it was cut.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fillet fillets filleted filleting

My second twist might incite even more gasps: Instead of tuna, bake a handsome fillet of Steelhead trout.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

Given enough heat, what was once a rich, velvety fillet becomes anchovy paste.

From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2025

"They were ordering T-bone steaks, fillet steaks, double desserts, they wanted two brownies on a plate," said Mr Cangelosi.

From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2024

These oily fish contain essential nutrients including calcium, B12 and omega-3 but some are lost from our diets when we just eat the salmon fillet.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 20, 2024

His face went crimson inside its helm, where nobody could see it, and he felt a warm glow under the straw fillet which padded his skull.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

First devised in 1828 by English grocer John Osborn, Gentleman’s Relish is a punchy blend of mashed anchovy fillets, butter and a secret blend of spices and herbs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026

By gently pulling apart the fillets with forceps and using a dissecting microscope, the team was able to count them accurately.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 1, 2026

I’ll stop at Gelson’s, and they’ve got two grass-fed fillets that are relatively reasonable.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2025

That includes topping salads with tinned smoked salmon marinated in extra virgin olive oil, umami-fying pastas with anchovy fillets à la Alison Roman or topping toast with butter and rainbow trout.

From Salon ● May 2, 2025

He turned then and placed the two flying fish inside the two fillets of fish and putting his knife back in its sheath, he worked his way slowly back to the bow.

From "The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway

A few days later, Naiser headed home to Louisville, Ky., after a stop in Michigan, where he dropped off the fish—49 pounds, 63.5 inches—to be filleted and mounted.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

"Customers understand that it's a luxury dish," chef Tomoyuki Takashino said from behind the stove as he skewered an eel he had just killed and filleted.

From Barron's ● Nov. 21, 2025

Ezra Klein gets filleted on the regular—same with Maureen Dowd.

From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2025

By the time the crew filleted her an hour later, most of her scales had oxidized to a dull gray.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2022

Her black hair seems filleted with the band of white at its roots.

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston

At first, the farewell - and then the filleting.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2025

Remove any remaining white pith from each piece with a sharp knife and a filleting motion.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 22, 2022

But those were mostly the function of an offense unable to hit shots, not a filleting of one of the NBA’s top defenses, as Adebayo had done.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2021

Five fish cutters worked alongside one another, gutting, scaling and filleting just-purchased seafood, from 10-inch bream to burly grouper and hog snapper longer than an adult’s arm.

From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2021

By the time four bells struck, Sefia was exhausted, but she could wield her Vision with the precision of a filleting knife.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

Related Words

• fish
• meat
• slice