fish out
Britishverb
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Also, fish up . Discover and retrieve something from a pile or store. For example, She finally fished out the right letter from the files , or He fished up a scandal for the paper to run in the early edition . This usage likens pulling fish from the sea to finding something. [Mid-1600s]
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Deplete the fish in a body of water by fishing, as in This stream is completely fished out .
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.
But in peacetime, he’s a fish out of water.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
"I do feel like a fish out of water. The knock-on effects has been massive. I'm just riding the wave of it really," she said.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2024
Although Duthiers succeeded in finance, he felt like a fish out of water.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2024
Jefferson brings the comedy so wonderfully, of this fish out of water.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2024
As I walked down the stairs, my stomach flip-flopped like a fish out of water.
From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez
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.
