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.
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
Residents need only call the abatement district to get a special delivery of mosquito-eating fish for their backyard at no cost.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
As a result, these waters have been too dangerous to fish for months.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Maybe it’s flaky white fish for tacos or beer-battered fish and chips; a cola- and honey-glazed ham that carries you through Sunday lunch and the week’s best sandwiches; impossibly crisp chicken thighs.
From Salon ● Dec. 20, 2025
“I do,” he replied, “but not until after the police have left. I’ll fish for a while. You go on. But here,” he said.
From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk
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.
