marlin

[ mahr-lin ]

/ ˈmɑr lɪn /

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

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 marlin

1915–20, Americanism; short for marlinespike

Words nearby marlin

Marlborough, Marlborough leg, marled, Marlene, Marley, marlin, marline, marlinespike, marlite, Marlon, Marlovian

Other definitions for marlin (2 of 2)

Marlin

[ mahr-lin ]

/ ˈmɑr lɪn /

noun

a male given name.

How to use marlin in a sentence

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.
The Brilliant 10: The most innovative up-and-coming minds in science|Bill Gourgey|September 20, 2021|Popular-Science
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.
The Brilliant 10: The most innovative up-and-coming minds in science|Bill Gourgey|September 20, 2021|Popular-Science
“Wait…” Suddenly a huge, graceful black marlin leaps out of the water, sending a shower of water ten feet high.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I was out, maybe in the Great Barrier Reef catching black marlin.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST

He likes when the sun glances off it from the top, because it looks like the black marlin.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
One more word about the mineral water industry in Marlin, Texas, and I was about to scream.
Slaves In A Family's Past Haunt The Present|Michael Signer|August 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The dedication of State Department diplomats such as Marlin Hardinger—on his fourth year in Lashkar Gah—is breathtaking.
What the Frontier of Afghanistan Tells Us About the War|John Kael Weston|May 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
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) /

noun plural -lin or -lins

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

Word Origin for marlin

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