angler
Americannoun
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a person who fishes with a hook and line.
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a person who gets or tries to get something through scheming.
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Also called allmouth, anglerfish, goosefish, lotte, monkfish. any large pediculate fish of the family Lophiidae, especially Lophius americanus, found along the Atlantic coast of America, having an immense mouth and a large, depressed head to which is attached a wormlike filament for luring prey.
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Also called anglerfish. any of various related fishes of the order Lophiiformes.
noun
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a person who fishes with a rod and line
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informal a person who schemes or uses devious methods to secure an advantage
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Also called: angler fish. any spiny-finned fish of the order Pediculati (or Lophiiformes ). They live at the bottom of the sea and typically have a long spiny movable dorsal fin with which they lure their prey
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of angler
Explanation
If you go fishing with a rod and a fishing line with a hook at the end of it, you're an angler. An angler might fish off the end of a dock, or from a rowboat in the middle of a lake. Anglers are distinguished by the fact that they fish with metal hooks, and they often release the fish they catch. You can also call one type of fish an angler, short for anglerfish, a big-headed, relatively small-bodied fish. Angler was originally a last name, and came to mean "fisherman" by about 1500, from the verb angle, "fish with a hook," from the Old English angel, which means "angle," but also "fishhook."
Vocabulary lists containing angler
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Given the 2-year ocean salmon fishery closure and the short duration of this fishing period, angler participation is expected to be high,” the department said in its announcement.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2025
Redditch angler Mark Downes, who manages Team England, has also been appointed an MBE for services to angling.
From BBC • Dec. 30, 2024
Officers would now have a criteria to ensure the angler, hunter or trapper is fulfilling their residency requirement, she said.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 25, 2024
An angler who was knocked unconscious after being swept out to sea has relived the terrifying moments before he passed out.
From BBC • Dec. 12, 2023
“Where are you? Where are you?” the angler fish said.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
