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barracuda

[bar-uh-koo-duh]
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noun, plural (especially collectively) bar·ra·cu·da, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) bar·ra·cu·das for 1; bar·ra·cu·das for 2.
  1. any of several elongated, predaceous, tropical and subtropical marine fishes of the genus Sphyraena, certain species of which are used for food.
  2. Slang. a treacherous, greedy person.
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Origin of barracuda

1670–80; < American Spanish < ?
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for barracuda

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • With one powerful sweep I hit one of the barracuda on the head.

  • Mostly they are caught by accident while drags are set for kingfish or barracuda.

  • They looked like barracuda to me, only they were almost as silvery as a tarpon.

  • We worked around him awhile, but he would not take a barracuda or a flying-fish.

  • I did not know then, as I know now, that barracuda grow to twelve feet in the Caribbean.

British Dictionary definitions for barracuda

barracuda

noun plural -da or -das
  1. any predatory marine teleost fish of the mostly tropical family Sphyraenidae, esp Sphyraena barracuda . They have an elongated body, strong teeth, and a protruding lower jaw
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Word Origin

C17: from American Spanish, of unknown origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for barracuda

n.

1670s, from American Spanish barracuda, perhaps from a Carib word.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper