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marlin1

[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.
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Origin of marlin1

1915–20, Americanism; short for marlinespike

marlin2

[mahr-lin]
noun
  1. marline.
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Marlin

[mahr-lin]
noun
  1. a male given name.
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marline

or mar·lin, mar·ling

[mahr-lin]
noun Nautical.
  1. small stuff of two-fiber strands, sometimes tarred, laid up left-handed.
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Origin of marline

First recorded in 1375–1425, marline is from the late Middle English word merlin. See marl2, line1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for marlin

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • No boatman fears a Marlin as he does the true broadbill swordfish.

  • Very angry he was, and he reminded me of a Marlin swordfish.

  • Marlin are not food fish, and they are thrown to the sharks.

  • But there are no more fish there, except Marlin swordfish in August and September.

  • All of which accounts for his quick conquering of a Marlin swordfish.

British Dictionary definitions for marlin

marlin

noun plural -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 IstiophoridaeAlso called: spearfish
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Word Origin

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

marline

marlin less commonly marling (ˈmɑːlɪŋ)

noun
  1. nautical a light rope, usually tarred, made of two strands laid left-handed
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Word Origin

C15: from Dutch marlijn, from marren to tie + lijn line
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

Word Origin and History for marlin

n.

large marine game-fish, 1917, shortening of marlinspike fish (1907), from marlinspike, name of a pointed iron tool used by sailors (see marlinspike). The fish was so called from the shape of its elongated upper jaw.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper