cunner

American  

[kuhn-er] / ˈkʌn ər /

noun

1. a small wrasse, Tautogolabrus adspersus, common in North Atlantic coastal waters of the United States.

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Etymology

Origin of cunner

First recorded in 1595–1605; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

He predicted that removing the old traps will help the populations of various fish species including tautog, rock crabs, whelk, cunner and sea bass, as well as the remaining lobsters.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 22, 2022

For the first bait of the first fisherman that ever threw hook into the North Atlantic was taken by a cunner.

From Old Plymouth Trails by Packard, Winthrop

There is none of the bait-stealing tomfoolery of the cunner, none of the dancing hilarity of the pollock.

From Old Plymouth Trails by Packard, Winthrop

Feels like a cunner is stealing my bait.

From Smugglers' Reef by Blaine, John

To sit for hours blinking in the sun, waiting for a cunner to come along and take his hook, was as exhaustive a kind of labor as he cared to engage in.

From A Rivermouth Romance by Aldrich, Thomas Bailey