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• bottom fish
  bottom fish

  noun

  any of certain fishes that live at or near the bottom of a body of water, as certain of the cod and related species, the flatfishes, and catfishes.
• bottom-fish
  bottom-fish

  verb (used without object)

  to fish with a weighted line for fish that feed close to the bottom.

bottom fish

¹ American  

noun

1. any of certain fishes that live at or near the bottom of a body of water, as certain of the cod and related species, the flatfishes, and catfishes.

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bottom-fish ² American  

[bot-uhm-fish] / ˈbɒt əmˌfɪʃ /

verb (used without object)

1. to fish with a weighted line for fish that feed close to the bottom.

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Etymology

Origin of bottom-fish

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

The healthy system is highly energy-efficient — with sediment-dwelling invertebrates and bottom fish feeding on the rain of algae, and then birds and large-bodied mammals, such as walrus and whales, scooping them up.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 17, 2021

Retail investors may have been "trying to bottom fish and got washed out with the recent new low," he said.

From Reuters • Apr. 14, 2015

I remember fishing Puget Sound for bottom fish when I was a child.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 8, 2013

Randy Smith, a commercial fisherman who specializes in shrimp, crab and bottom fish, said he had escaped Crescent City Harbor early on Friday after being warned that big waves were headed his way.

From New York Times • Mar. 17, 2011

Two grey shining lumps, each with tapering tail dropped limply through the bottom; fish, cheese, and rodents all on one dead level now, given over to corruption.

From An Ocean Tramp by McFee, William