marlin

¹

[ mahr-lin ]

noun

, plural (especially collectively) mar·lin, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) mar·lins.

1. any large, saltwater game fish of the genera Makaira and Tetrapterus, having the upper jaw elongated into a spearlike structure.

Marlin

²

[ mahr-lin ]

noun

1. a male given name.

marlin

/ ˈmɑːlɪn /

noun

1. any of several large scombroid food and game fishes of the genera Makaira, Istiompax, and Tetrapturus, of warm and tropical seas, having a very long upper jaw: family Istiophoridae Also calledspearfish

Word History and Origins

Origin of marlin¹

1915–20, Americanism; short for marlinespike

Word History and Origins

Origin of marlin¹

C20: from marlinespike ; with allusion to the shape of the beak

Example Sentences

That’s why Marlin, a psychologist and neuroscientist at Columbia University who has now fostered children herself, studies a unique sliver of epigenetics, or the impact our environments and behaviors have on our genes.

From Popular-Science

Marlin began her work, which centers on brain development and learning, by identifying one of the mechanisms responsible for a seismic shift in social behavior.

From Popular-Science

“Wait…” Suddenly a huge, graceful black marlin leaps out of the water, sending a shower of water ten feet high.

From The Daily Beast

I was out, maybe in the Great Barrier Reef catching black marlin.

From The Daily Beast

He likes when the sun glances off it from the top, because it looks like the black marlin.

From The Daily Beast

One more word about the mineral water industry in Marlin, Texas, and I was about to scream.

From The Daily Beast

The dedication of State Department diplomats such as Marlin Hardinger—on his fourth year in Lashkar Gah—is breathtaking.

From The Daily Beast

The fish resembled a small marlin in shape, but it looked as if its sides had been painted by an abstract artist.

From Project Gutenberg

Jordde suddenly seized up a marlin pin, raised it, and shouted at Urson, "Get down below before I break your skull open."

From Project Gutenberg

Jordde's marlin made an inch of splinters in the length of wood against which he had been leaning.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a fierce effort to free the hook, a leap not beautiful and graceful, like that of the Marlin, but magnificent and dogged.

From Project Gutenberg

We had learned the last few days that broadbills will strike when not on the surface, just as Marlin swordfish do.

From Project Gutenberg