fish out
Britishverb
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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]
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Deplete the fish in a body of water by fishing, as in This stream is completely fished out .
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.
The Journal last year recounted one controversy that unfolded as Hinkley Point’s builders worked to meet environmental rules: a plan to keep fish out of the cooling system using a deterrent dubbed a “fish disco” that cost tens of millions of dollars.
Selkie and Fred jumped in to help fish out the coconuts, which would have been more helpful if they hadn’t kept playing coconut soccer instead.
From Literature
So I think it was about not being untrue to that reality and how that plays a role in the story but to talk about the bigger thing where it’s really just about being a fish out of water.”
From Los Angeles Times
He held the fish out to Gelifen.
From Literature
What makes “Crappie Lake” so enjoyable goes way beyond the “fish out of water” premise.
From Salon
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.
