bluegill

American

[bloo-gil] / ˈbluˌgɪl /

noun

a freshwater sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus, of the Mississippi River valley, used for food.

bluegill British

/ ˈbluːˌɡɪl /

noun

a common North American freshwater sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus : an important food and game fish

"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

Etymology

Origin of bluegill

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; blue + gill ¹

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.

See Examples For:

bluegill

Fish species affected included largemouth bass, black crappie, bluegill, channel catfish, flathead catfish, and stocked species such as brown trout and rainbow trout.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 18, 2026

He said Beckstrom loved to hunt and fish for bass and bluegill and ride four-wheelers on trails through the mountains.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 29, 2025

Brown leans back, loads up the 8-foot rod to cast and hurls his custom bluegill bait 70 yards.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2022

Bream and bluegill are good, using live worms.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 4, 2020

I even snagged my first fish, a tiny bluegill.

From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023