fish for

1. 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]

2. Search for something, as in I've fished for it in all the drawers . [First half of 1700s]

Example Sentences

The chimp she later named David Graybeard had been using the stalk to fish for the bugs.

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It is about "finding that balance", he continued, noting how many people still rely on animals and fish for food.

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“Everything was consistent, except that the boat kept going and crossed the salmon grounds,” Brown said, indicating he never stopped to fish for salmon.

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Kawahara had planned to fish for tuna near Oregon, Brown said, and then planned to fish for salmon.

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The agency says anglers in England and Wales aged 13 or over must have a rod fishing licence to fish for freshwater species and can be fined if they do not have one.

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