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.
But in peacetime, he’s a fish out of water.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 1, 2026
To continue the maritime theme, Wolves have looked like a fish out of water for most of this Premier League campaign.
From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026
I felt like a fish out of water.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 16, 2025
And we scoop trillions of fish out of the water indiscriminately in large nets who are left to die slowly by asphyxiation.
From Salon • Oct. 19, 2024
It was a good plan, but when I tried to actually get my arm out of the mummy bag, I flailed around like a fish out of water, and nearly dislocated my shoulder.
From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green
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.
