fish for
Idioms-
Try to obtain something through artifice or indirectly. For example, He was always fishing for compliments , or, as William Makepeace Thackeray put it in Vanity Fair (1848): “The first woman who fishes for him, hooks him.” [Mid-1500s]
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Search for something, as in I've fished for it in all the drawers . [First half of 1700s]
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.
That evening I ate grilled fish for supper, tender and delicious with the smoky tang of the open fire, and it brought back the happiest times of my life.
From Literature
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Many coastal communities in the region depend heavily on fish for food, income, and cultural practices, which raises concerns about the long-term effects of consuming contaminated seafood.
From Science Daily
But apparently Boaz had gefilte fish for a brain, because in spite of everything, he looked at her with the same expression he had that day in the box office.
From Literature
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Great whites are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, meaning it is illegal to fish for them or to sell them.
From BBC
He said Beckstrom loved to hunt and fish for bass and bluegill and ride four-wheelers on trails through the mountains.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.