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.
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 • Feb. 3, 2026
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 • Dec. 29, 2025
He said Beckstrom loved to hunt and fish for bass and bluegill and ride four-wheelers on trails through the mountains.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 29, 2025
Since they’re right by the river, in between church services, they also learn how to kayak and fish for bass.
From Salon • Jul. 7, 2025
‘Just think of all the new words we’ll gather. I’m going to write down the names of every single fish for you to learn!”
From "Out of My Mind" by Sharon M. Draper
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.
