mackerel
Americannoun
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mackerel,
plural
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mackerels
plural
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a food fish, Scomber scombrus, of the North Atlantic, having wavy cross markings on the back.
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any of various similar fishes, as the Atka mackerel.
noun
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a spiny-finned food fish, Scomber scombrus, occurring in northern coastal regions of the Atlantic and in the Mediterranean: family Scombridae. It has a deeply forked tail and a greenish-blue body marked with wavy dark bands on the back Compare Spanish mackerel
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any of various other fishes of the family Scombridae, such as Scomber colias (Spanish mackerel) and S. japonicus (Pacific mackerel)
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mackerel
1250–1300; Middle English < Old French, perhaps same word as Middle French maquerel pimp < Middle Dutch makelare broker (by metathesis), equivalent to makel ( en ) to bring together + -are -er 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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Industry figures reposted by seafood market intelligence platform Undercurrent suggest wholesale Chilean jack mackerel costs roughly one-third as much as Atlantic mackerel.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Jack mackerel contains about half as much omega-3 and around a third as much vitamin B12 as traditional mackerel.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Until December 2025, under UK law, Carangidae species could only be marketed as "jack", "scad", "trevally" or "horse mackerel".
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
The switch has been spurred by dwindling stocks of Atlantic mackerel after years of overfishing, with its Chilean counterpart more sustainable and a third of the cost.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
In either hand he held a mackerel by the tail.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
I stole the idea for the robed mackerels from the so-called decorator crabs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2018
Crispy curried rice with pork skin and coconut, and kua kling, a beef shank curry described as brutally spicy are two options, along with adventures like grilled short mackerels with lotus stems in coconut soup.
From New York Times ● Sep. 5, 2017
Aquaculture species that are most affordable, such as carp, are often not as rich in omega-3 fatty acids as are the wild species currently accessible to impoverished communities, such as sardines and mackerels.
From Nature ● Jun. 14, 2016
According to a 2015 World Wildlife Fund report, some 1,200 marine vertebrate species, including fish like mackerels and tunas, declined by nearly half between 1970 and 2012.
From New York Times ● May 24, 2016
That's the reason that I like mackerel-fishing, though I have no fondness for mackerels themselves, for they are cannibals.
From Hurrah for New England! The Virginia Boy's Vacation by Louisa C. Tuthill
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