mackerel breeze

British

noun

a strong breeze

"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

Etymology

Origin of mackerel breeze

C18: so named because the ruffling of the water by the wind aids mackerel fishing

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

mackerel breeze

While they tacked to and fro in the river, under the impulse of a mackerel breeze, the physician expressed his satisfaction, and Pallet was ravished with the entertainment.

From The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle by Smollett, T. (Tobias)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023