fillet

American  

[fil-it, fi-lay] / 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

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Etymology

Origin of fillet

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

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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

You could have customers showing up ordering a feast of fillet steaks because they got an inside tip on your generosity.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026

Rudyard Kipling was honored at a dinner at the club on April 2, 1898, where guests enjoyed beef fillet and lamb medallions alongside Chateau Mouton Rothschild, 1882 vintage, according to a menu preserved there.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 22, 2025

The perfectly red fillet cut sizzles in the pan, its juices releasing a meaty aroma.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2025

They found a decrease in six out of nine nutrients in the salmon fillet -- calcium, iodine, iron, omega-3, vitamin B12 and vitamin A, but increased levels of selenium and zinc.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 20, 2024

Zafoona rolled back the tinfoil and eyed the fillet of fish lying on a small pile of yellow rice.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai

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

The cost of almost all essentials has gone up in local supermarkets, from eggs and chicken fillets to seasonal vegetables, Alexander has noticed.

From BBC ● Feb. 17, 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

There were spiced and pickled herring fillets, sardines, smoked eels and cod’s roe.

From "Boy: Tales of a Childhood" by Roald Dahl

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

The former president filleted him with cool disdain.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2024

Nita filleted another eel and dropped its carcass into the bucket between them.

From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi

Things have disintegrated since, hastened by the predictable filleting of goods and services to extrude every last cent of value.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

He wasn’t there long, however, Conklin told the Statesman, because Kohberger didn’t show himself to be very personable with customers and also wasn’t improving at filleting the fish.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2023

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

Mr. Mouland put the birds in the oven, and the men turned to filleting the day’s catch of cod.

From New York Times ● Dec. 4, 2016

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

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Related Words

• fish
• meat
• slice

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