muskellunge

American  

[muhs-kuh-luhnj] / ˈmʌs kəˌlʌndʒ /

noun

muskellunges, plural muskellunge plural

1. a large game fish, Esox masquinongy, of the pike family, found in the lakes and rivers of the eastern and central United States and and in Canada from Quebec to Manitoba.

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muskellunge British  

/ ˈmæskəˌlɒndʒ, ˈmʌskəˌlʌndʒ, ˈmæskəˌnɒndʒ /

noun

1. Often (informal) shortened to: musky.   muskie.  a large North American freshwater game fish, Esox masquinongy: family Esocidae (pikes, etc)

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• muskellunge
  plural
• muskellunges
  plural

Etymology

Origin of muskellunge

An Americanism dating back to 1780–90; earlier muskinunge, masquenongez ( French spelling), etc., from Canadian French maskinongé from Ojibwe ma·skino·ŝe·, ma·ŝkino·ŝe· (equivalent to unattested Proto-Algonquian mya·ŝi “similar to, kind of” + *kenweŝye·wa “northern pike”)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

muskellunge muskellunges

Now, there are more than 70 species including smallmouth bass, northern pike and muskellunge.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 17, 2022

Nolan Sprengeler caught a 55-pound muskellunge on Nov. 22 during a fishing trip to Millie Lacs Lake, according to a press release from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

From Fox News ● Dec. 28, 2021

Clyde’s finds itself with too many airplanes, along with too many vintage golf trophies, ice skates, seltzer bottles, taxidermied muskellunge, fox hunting prints, papier-mâché parrots, hand-carved wooden pineapples and more.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 20, 2017

For the uninitiated, the muskellunge is a freshwater pike with a feisty mindset.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 22, 2015

Special emphasis is laid on outfitting for fly fishing, but full instruction is also given to the man who wants to catch pickerel, pike, muskellunge, lake-trout, bass and other fresh-water game fishes.

From Apple Growing by Burritt, M. C.

Say, that lake they talk so much about is no better than lakes all over Wisconsin, and there are no black bass or muskellunges in it.

From Peck's Bad Boy Abroad Being a Humorous Description of the Bad Boy and His Dad in Their Journeys Through Foreign Lands - 1904 by Peck, George W. (George Wilbur)