grayling
Americannoun
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any freshwater fish of the genus Thymallus, related to the trouts but having a longer and higher, brilliantly colored dorsal fin.
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any of several grayish or brownish satyr butterflies.
noun
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any freshwater salmonoid food fish of the genus Thymallus and family Thymallidae, of the N hemisphere, having a long spiny dorsal fin, a silvery back, and greyish-green sides
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any butterfly of the satyrid genus Hipparchia and related genera, esp H. semele of Europe, having grey or greyish-brown wings
Etymology
Origin of grayling
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at gray 1, -ling 1
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 number of grayling in Montana’s Centennial Valley, which includes the Red Rock Lakes area, plummeted from 1,131 fish in 2015 to 73 fish last year.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 3, 2023
Fish here include Dolly Varden, Arctic char, grayling, all five species of Pacific salmon found in North America, and, perhaps most famously, “leopard” rainbow trout, so nicknamed for their brilliantly colored fine, round spots.
From Washington Post • Sep. 16, 2021
The Germans were looking a little frustrated by their ice hole, and I got the feeling that we weren’t presenting much of a threat to the pike and grayling allegedly massing below us.
From The New Yorker • Apr. 22, 2019
In 2017, it found that two - the grayling and the grizzled skipper - had their worst year on record, declining by 6% and 9% respectively.
From BBC • Jun. 29, 2018
“D’you remember that big grayling that you and Matthias caught?”
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
