herring

American  

[her-ing] / ˈhɛr ɪŋ /

noun

• herring,
  plural
• herrings
  plural

1. an important food fish, Clupea harengus harengus, found in enormous shoals in the North Atlantic.

2. a similar fish, Clupea harengus pallasii, of the North Pacific.

3. any fish of the family Clupeidae, including herrings, shads, and sardines.

4. any of various fishes resembling the herring but of unrelated families.

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herring British  

/ ˈhɛrɪŋ /

noun

1. any marine soft-finned teleost fish of the family Clupeidae, esp Clupea harengus, an important food fish of northern seas, having an elongated body covered, except in the head region, with large fragile silvery scales

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herring Idioms  

1. see dead as a doornail (herring); red herring.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• herringlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• herring
  plural
• herrings
  plural

Etymology

Origin of herring

before 900; Middle English hering, Old English hǣring; cognate with German Häring

Explanation

A herring is a small, silver fish. Most herring that's caught for food is prepared by being smoked, salted, or pickled. The majority of herring is caught in the Atlantic, though the fish is found in both the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. Because it's very high in the famously healthy Omega-3 fats, herring is considered a healthful fish for people to eat. Herrings is also used as bait for catching larger fish. Although the source of the word herring is uncertain, many experts see a link to the Old English har, or "gray."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

herring herrings

She loved eating herring and working with the “wonderful” Sonia Gaskell, but it wasn’t worth being separated from Svetlana.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

In the case of the drone story, I was naturally thinking of rival news outlets that keep dangling the alien-visitation red herring in front of their readers because it generates clicks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

Filip explained how the damage initially sent him off on a red herring.

From BBC ● May 25, 2026

But in the case of Iran, the whole exercise is a bit of a red herring.

From Slate ● Mar. 11, 2026

A blanket of herring clouds was rolling in from the east.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Red herrings pop up and disappear, a climactic series of revelations indicates hidden villainy, and every detail feels ho-hum.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026

Certain clues from training have also proved red herrings.

From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2025

Both offer a critique of bedside manner; patients that, seemingly fine, suddenly lose consciousness; red herrings, dead ends and wrong trees to bark up.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2025

More broadly, he cautions, many antibodies will prove to be red herrings that have nothing to do with disease processes.

From Science Magazine ● May 15, 2024

Silently he put milk, bread, herrings beside it, and gestured to Johnny to join him.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes