marlin

[ 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.

Origin of marlin

1
1915–20, Americanism; short for marlinespike

Words Nearby marlin

Other definitions for Marlin (2 of 2)

Marlin
[ mahr-lin ]

noun
  1. a male given name.

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

How to use marlin in a sentence

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

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

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

    What Rough Beast? | Jefferson Highe
  • Jordde suddenly seized up a marlin pin, raised it, and shouted at Urson, "Get down below before I break your skull open."

    The Jewels of Aptor | Samuel R. Delany
  • Jordde's marlin made an inch of splinters in the length of wood against which he had been leaning.

    The Jewels of Aptor | Samuel R. Delany
  • It was a fierce effort to free the hook, a leap not beautiful and graceful, like that of the marlin, but magnificent and dogged.

    Tales of Fishes | Zane Grey
  • We had learned the last few days that broadbills will strike when not on the surface, just as marlin swordfish do.

    Tales of Fishes | Zane Grey

British Dictionary definitions for marlin

marlin

/ (ˈmɑːlɪn) /


nounplural -lin or -lins
  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 called: spearfish

Origin of marlin

1
C20: from marlinespike; with allusion to the shape of the beak

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