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anglerfish

American  
[ang-gler-fish] / ˈæŋ glər fɪʃ /

noun

plural

anglerfish,

plural

anglerfishes
  1. angler.


Etymology

Origin of anglerfish

First recorded in 1645–55; angler + fish

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.

They weren’t allowed to experiment with mammals, including rats, so they isolated tissue samples from anglerfish, the carnivorous bottom-feeders with razor sharp teeth.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 29, 2025

“Another type of anglerfish, the footballfishes, are known from individuals entering shallow water and being found barely alive or dead washed up on beaches.”

From Salon • Feb. 13, 2025

If these trends continue, humans may someday enter a world where anglerfish do not exist at all.

From Salon • Feb. 13, 2025

Despite these directional trends, however, ceratioids also displayed remarkable variability in body shapes from the archetypical globose anglerfish to elongated forms like the "wolftrap" phenotype, which features a jaw structure resembling a trap.

From Science Daily • Dec. 2, 2024

Finally, principal component analyses visualized how anglerfish occupied different regions of phenotypic space, shedding light on evolutionary trends in body, skull and jaw shapes.

From Science Daily • Dec. 2, 2024