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.
Most of these factories use inedible offcuts from fishing because nearly every U.S. state has outlawed the targeting of whole fish for fishmeal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
They were rewarded with fish for the right answers.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
They are probably more fun than someone who spends $500 on a piece of fish for an eight-person dinner party, anyway.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
As a result, these waters have been too dangerous to fish for months.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
“A fish for you, two fish,” I said when I caught my breath.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
