fish

¹ American  

[fish] / fɪʃ /

noun

plural

fish,

plural

fishes

1. any of various cold-blooded, aquatic vertebrates, having gills, commonly fins, and typically an elongated body covered with scales.

2. (loosely) any of various aquatic animals.

3. the flesh of fishes used as food.

4. Astronomy, Astrology. Fishes, the constellation or sign of Pisces.

5. Informal. a person.

   an odd fish; a poor fish.

6. a long strip of wood, iron, etc., used to strengthen a mast, joint, etc.

7. Cards Slang. an incompetent player whose incompetence can be exploited.

8. Slang. a dollar.

   He sold the car for 500 fish.

9. Slang.

   1. a new prison inmate.

   2. a high school or college freshman; frosh.

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verb (used with object)

1. to catch or attempt to catch (any species of fish or the like).

2. to try to catch fish in (a stream, lake, etc.).

   Let's fish the creek.

3. to draw, as by fishing (often followed by up orout ).

   He fished a coin out of his pocket for the boy.

4. to search through, as by fishing.

5. Nautical.

   1. to secure (an anchor) by raising the flukes.

   2. to reinforce (a mast or other spar) by fastening a spar, batten, metal bar, or the like, lengthwise over a weak place.

verb (used without object)

1. to catch or attempt to catch fish, as by angling or drawing a net.

2. to search carefully.

   He fished through all his pockets but his wallet was gone.

3. to seek to obtain something indirectly or by artifice.

   to fish for compliments; to fish for information.

4. to search for or attempt to catch onto something under water, in mud, etc., by the use of a dredge, rake, hook, or the like.

5. to attempt to recover detached tools or other loose objects from an oil or gas well.

verb phrase

1. fish out to deplete (a lake, stream, etc.) of fish by fishing.

idioms

1. fish in troubled waters, to take advantage of troubled or uncertain conditions for personal profit.

2. fish or cut bait, to choose a definite course of action, especially to decide whether to participate in or retreat from an activity.

3. other fish to fry, other matters requiring attention.

   When it was time to act, they had other fish to fry.

4. drink like a fish, to drink alcoholic beverages to excess.

   Nobody invites him out because he drinks like a fish.

5. fish out of water, a person out of their proper or accustomed environment.

   He felt like a fish out of water in an academic atmosphere.

6. neither fish nor fowl, having no specific character or conviction; neither one nor the other.

Fish ² American  

[fish] / fɪʃ /

noun

1. Hamilton, 1808–93, U.S. statesman: secretary of state 1869–77.

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fish ¹ British  

/ fɪʃ /

noun

1. 1. any of a large group of cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates having jaws, gills, and usually fins and a skin covered in scales: includes the sharks and rays (class Chondrichthyes : cartilaginous fishes ) and the teleosts, lungfish, etc (class Osteichthyes : bony fishes )

   2. ( in combination )

      fishpond

2. any of various similar but jawless vertebrates, such as the hagfish and lamprey

3. (not in technical use) any of various aquatic invertebrates, such as the cuttlefish, jellyfish, and crayfish

4. the flesh of fish used as food

5. informal a person of little emotion or intelligence

   a poor fish

6. short for fishplate

7. Also called: tin fish.  an informal word for torpedo

8. an awkward situation; mess

9. to drink (esp alcohol) to excess

10. to have other activities to do, esp more important ones

11. out of one's usual place

12. to discriminate unfairly between people

13. neither this nor that

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verb

1. (intr) to attempt to catch fish, as with a line and hook or with nets, traps, etc

2. (tr) to fish in (a particular area of water)

3. to search (a body of water) for something or to search for something, esp in a body of water

4. to seek something indirectly

   to fish for compliments

FISH ² British  

/ fɪʃ /

acronym

1. fluorescence in situ hybridization, a technique for detecting and locating gene mutations and chromosome abnormalities

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fish Scientific  

/ fĭsh /

plural

fish

1. Any of numerous cold-blooded vertebrate animals that live in water. Fish have gills for obtaining oxygen, a lateral line for sensing pressure changes in the water, and a vertical tail. Most fish are covered with scales and have limbs in the form of fins. Fish were once classified together as a single group, but are now known to compose numerous evolutionarily distinct classes, including the bony fish, cartilaginous fish, jawless fish, lobe-finned fish, and placoderms.

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fish More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing fish

• big fish in a small pond
• cold fish
• drink like a fish
• goldfish bowl
• kettle of fish
• like shooting fish in a barrel
• neither fish nor fowl
• not the only fish in the sea
• other fish to fry
• smell fishy

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Usage

What else does fish mean? Fish, appearing especially in the phrase fresh fish, is prison slang for new, first-time inmates, usually considered naive and vulnerable.Fish, often appearing in the form of fishy or the phrase serving fish, is also slang in drag culture for a very feminine drag queen.Content warning: this article contains references to sexual and sexist content.

Other Word Forms

• fishable adjective
• fishless adjective
• fishlike adjective
• outfish verb (used with object)
• unfished adjective

Etymology

Origin of fish

First recorded before 900; (noun) Middle English fis(c)h, fyssh, Old English fisc; cognate with Dutch vis, German Fisch, Old Norse fiskr, Gothic fisks; akin to Latin piscis, Irish iasc; (verb) Middle English fishen, Old English fiscian, cognate with Dutch visschen, German fischen, Old Norse fiska, Gothic fiskôn

Example Sentences

As he vents at the climax, “They lie to everybody — they lie to the fish!”

From Los Angeles Times

Jonah fished a pen out of his own backpack.

From Literature

Then she whistled her shell, two long, shrill notes that carried far out to the reef, where the sea lions were fishing.

From Literature

The former fishing boat drifted ashore in rough seas at about 03:30 GMT on 11 December while working as a guard boat for an offshore wind farm near Ireland.

From BBC

Japanese and Chinese coast guard ships have confronted one another near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, while last week Japanese authorities seized a Chinese fishing vessel.

From BBC