filefish

[fahyl-fish]

noun, plural (especially collectively) file·fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) file·fish·es.

any of several flattened marine fishes of the family Monacanthidae, having an elongated head with a small mouth and small, spiny scales.

a triggerfish.

Origin of filefish

First recorded in 1765–75; file² + fish

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for filefish

filefish

noun plural -fish or -fishes

any tropical triggerfish, such as Alutera scripta, having a narrow compressed body and a very long dorsal spine

Word Origin for filefish

C18: referring to its file-like scales

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