blackfish

[blak-fish]

noun

plural

blackfish ,

plural

blackfishes .

1. any of various dark-colored fishes, as the tautog, Tautoga onitis, or the black sea bass, Centropristes striata.

2. a small, freshwater food fish, Dallia pectoralis, found in Alaska and Siberia, noted for its ability to survive frozen in ice.

3. black whale.

blackfish

/ ˈblækˌfɪʃ /

noun

1. a minnow-like Alaskan freshwater fish, Dallia pectoralis , related to the pikes and thought to be able to survive prolonged freezing

2. a female salmon that has recently spawned Compare redfish

3. any of various other dark fishes, esp the luderick, a common edible Australian estuary fish

4. another name for pilot whale

Word History and Origins

Origin of blackfish¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1680–90; black + fish

Example Sentences

Spiny-finned sea robin, blackfish and wayward angelfish swim in the murky ocean tinted green by sheets of algae.

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Fishermen reviled the “blackfish” as competition for salmon and sometimes shot them.

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The restaurant, on 43rd Street near Ninth Avenue, famously introduced many New Yorkers to crudo, the Italian-style raw seafood preparation, and to countless previously obscure fish species, like blackfish, scorpionfish and porgy.

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I will wade across the river of the blackfish, the otter, the beaver.

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She’ll be charring chicories and cauliflower, grilling carrots, roasting blackfish and oysters, and baking beans in the embers, all parts of dishes listed on the menu.

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