fish out

verb

1. (tr, adverb) to find or extract (something)

   to fish keys out of a pocket

Idioms and Phrases

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]

Deplete the fish in a body of water by fishing, as in This stream is completely fished out .

Related Words

• discover 
• examine 
• scrutinize 
• snoop