goldfish

[ gohld-fish ]

/ ˈgoʊldˌfɪʃ /

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noun, plural (especially collectively) gold·fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) gold·fish·es.

a small, usually yellow or orange fish, Carassius auratus, of the carp family, native to China, bred in many varieties and often kept in fishbowls and pools.

garibaldi (def. 2).

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of goldfish

First recorded in 1690–1700; gold + fish

Words nearby goldfish

gold field, goldfields, gold-filled, goldfinch, goldfinny, goldfish, goldfish bowl, gold fixing, gold foil, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, gold, golden

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use goldfish in a sentence

“Please don’t release your pet goldfish into ponds and lakes!”
People dumped their pets into lakes, officials say. Now football-size goldfish are taking over.|Reis Thebault|July 12, 2021|Washington Post
When you pull a goldfish about the size of a football out of the lake, it makes you wonder how this can even be the same type of animal.
People dumped their pets into lakes, officials say. Now football-size goldfish are taking over.|Reis Thebault|July 12, 2021|Washington Post
“A few goldfish might seem to some like a harmless addition to the local water body — but they’re not,” the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources advised this year.
People dumped their pets into lakes, officials say. Now football-size goldfish are taking over.|Reis Thebault|July 12, 2021|Washington Post
Groups of these large goldfish were recently found in Keller Lake.
People dumped their pets into lakes, officials say. Now football-size goldfish are taking over.|Reis Thebault|July 12, 2021|Washington Post

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we were about to go through this process all over again, with the EU acting as if it had the memory span of a giant goldfish.
Dear EU: It’s time to get a grip|Mike Butcher|June 25, 2021|TechCrunch
They include “The Goldfish Pool at Chartwell” painted in 1932 and “The Harbour, Cannes,” painted circa 1933.
Churchill’s Secret Treasures for Sale: A British PM’s Life on the Auction Block|Tom Teodorczuk|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And in item 6c I get to list my dependents—three children, four dogs, six laying hens, two goldfish, and a hamster.
Up to a Point: I Do My Own Taxes With No Help, Except From a Couple of Bloody Marys|P. J. O’Rourke|April 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She told Harry that she did not want to live in the goldfish bowl of Royal family life.
Loved-Up Harry And Cressida Appear In Public Together For Second Time In Three Days|Tom Sykes|March 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He found a manager who was buying a package of Goldfish crackers and pulled the pellet gun on him.
Should Juvenile Criminals Be Sentenced Like Adults?|Clark Merrefield|November 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The Jets step up to help Elmo train and Elmo helps them score a win, or at least his pet goldfish Dorothy does.
Elmo's True Hollywood Story|Marly Faherty|October 21, 2011|DAILY BEAST
There are clumps of ornamental wood, flower-beds, and artificial ponds with goldfish swimming in them.
Belgium|George W. T. (George William Thomson) Omond
My waif was curled up in my kimono, feeding my fan-tailed goldfish.
Jane Journeys On|Ruth Comfort Mitchell
Already the boy could take a pair of rabbits out of a high hat, or change a bunch of carrots into a bowl of goldfish.
Seeing Things at Night|Heywood Broun
A good name, he seems to believe, is something which a woman carries tightly clasped in both arms like a bowl of goldfish.
Seeing Things at Night|Heywood Broun
He said that when he grew up he was going to be a merchant, and he had already begun to carry on a trade in canaries and goldfish.
Beautiful Joe|Marshall Saunders

British Dictionary definitions for goldfish

goldfish

/ (ˈɡəʊldˌfɪʃ) /

noun plural -fish or -fishes

a freshwater cyprinid fish, Carassius auratus, of E Europe and Asia, esp China, widely introduced as a pond or aquarium fish. It resembles the carp and has a typically golden or orange-red coloration

any of certain similar ornamental fishes, esp the golden orfeSee orfe

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012