herring

[her-ing]

noun

plural

herring ,

plural

herrings .

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.

herring

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• herringlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of herring¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of herring¹

Old English hǣring; related to Old High German hāring, Old Frisian hēring, Dutch haring

Idioms and Phrases

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

Example Sentences

I’d call the opening murder a red herring except it’s really more like a fish left to cook in the blinding Bakersfield sun.

From Los Angeles Times

Kim, the deputy director of North Korea's propaganda department, said Seoul's claim was an "unfounded unilateral supposition and a red herring".

From BBC

"The initial narrative has proven a bit of a red herring," said Mill Pond Research's Caen.

From BBC

“There were a lot more dead ends and red herrings that would bog down readers,” Hogan observes.

From Los Angeles Times

“It’s a red herring to distract from the evidence that matters: witness interview notes, videos, photos, etc.”

From Salon