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jewfish

[joo-fish]
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noun, plural (especially collectively) jew·fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) jew·fish·es.
  1. any of several very large fishes, especially of the family Serranidae, as the giant sea bass and the groupers Epinephelus itajara and E. nigritus, found in the tropical Atlantic Ocean.
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Origin of jewfish

1690–1700; apparently Jew + fish
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for jewfish

Historical Examples

  • The Philippine giant sea-bass, or jewfish, belongs to the same family as does the California species.

    The Philippines Past and Present (Volume 2 of 2)

    Dean Conant Worcester

  • The jewfish is common in more southern waters but there may well have been some strays in the Chesapeake.

  • The jewfish he remembered had been calculated to tip the scales at two hundred and thirty pounds.

  • Huge fishes like the tarpon, jewfish or tuna are sooner brought to gaff by "pumping," as it is called.

    Favorite Fish and Fishing

    James Alexander Henshall

  • With his stout tools and tackle he enjoys the phenomenal leaps of the tarpon, or the leviathan struggles of the jewfish.

    Favorite Fish and Fishing

    James Alexander Henshall

British Dictionary definitions for jewfish

jewfish

noun plural -fish or -fishes
  1. any of various large dark serranid fishes, such as Mycteroperca bonaci, of warm or tropical seas
  2. Australian any of various marine sciaenid food and game fish, esp the mulloway
  3. Australian a large food fish of W Australian waters Glaucosama hebraicum
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Word Origin

C17: of uncertain origin
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

Word Origin and History for jewfish

n.

1670s, from Jew (n.) + fish (n.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper