kelt

[ kelt ]

noun
  1. a salmon that has spawned.

Origin of kelt

1
1300–50; Middle English (north) < ?

Words Nearby kelt

Other definitions for Kelt (2 of 2)

Kelt
[ kelt ]

noun

Other words from Kelt

  • Keltic, noun, adjective
  • Kelt·i·cal·ly, adverb

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

How to use kelt in a sentence

  • Bull trout very rarely takes fly or bait of any kind, except when it is in the kelt state, when it is ravenous.

  • "I thought a kelt was a kind of a no-weel fish," he interposed.

    Huntingtower | John Buchan
  • The lager-drinking Irishman in a few generations will be a new type of humanity—the kelt at his best.

  • She always impresses me as a sort of atavistic idealization of the old kelt at his finest and best.

  • An old "kelt" salmon has been seen to devour fifty of his own progeny for breakfast; and the pike is a greater water-wolf still.

    Poachers and Poaching | John Watson

British Dictionary definitions for kelt (1 of 2)

kelt

/ (kɛlt) /


noun
  1. a salmon that has recently spawned and is usually in poor condition

Origin of kelt

1
C14: of unknown origin

British Dictionary definitions for Kelt (2 of 2)

Kelt

/ (kɛlt) /


noun
  1. a variant of Celt

Derived forms of Kelt

  • Keltic, adjective
  • Keltically, adverb
  • Kelticism, noun
  • Kelticist or Keltist, noun

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