mackerel sky

American  

noun

1. an extensive group of cirrocumulus or altocumulus clouds, especially when well-marked in their arrangement: so called because of a resemblance to the scales on a mackerel.

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mackerel sky British  

noun

1. a sky patterned with cirrocumulus or small altocumulus clouds

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Etymology

Origin of mackerel sky

First recorded in 1660–70

Example Sentences

"Mackerel sky, mackerel sky, not long wet nor not long dry," said a man in a black silk top hat to Tristran and Yvaine.

From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman

The lilies had died back to the ground; the bark of the crepe myrtles had all peeled away; there was a mackerel sky.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly

But now they were higher and smaller, settling at last into a mackerel sky like a beach at low tide.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

One day, while up on the levee trying to take a satisfactory picture of an elusive "mackerel sky," which was changing from moment to moment, he met a stranger.

From The Boy with the U. S. Weather Men by Rolt-Wheeler, Francis

It was a mackerel sky of a very bold and extraordinary kind—not a dish of mackerel, but a world of mackerel! 

From The Lady of the Shroud by Stoker, Bram