paddlefish

[ pad-l-fish ]

noun

, plural pad·dle·fish·es, (especially collectively) pad·dle·fish.

1. a large ganoid fish, Polyodon spathula, of the Mississippi River and its larger tributaries, having a long, flat, paddlelike snout.

paddlefish

/ ˈpædəlˌfɪʃ /

noun

1. a primitive bony fish, Polyodon spathula, of the Mississippi River, having a long paddle-like projection to the snout: family Polyodontidae
2. a similar and related Chinese fish, Psephurus gladius, of the Yangtze River

Word History and Origins

Origin of paddlefish¹

An Americanism dating back to 1680–90; paddle ¹ + fish

Example Sentences

To determine when this turmoil took place, During and her collaborators examined filter-feeding paddlefishes and sturgeons found in the deposit with spherules caught in their gills.

From Popular-Science

Of the former one species is Chinese, and the other is the shovel-nosed spoonbill or paddlefish of the lower Mississippi River.

From Project Gutenberg

He spoke of it to his friend of the paddlefish investigation.

From Project Gutenberg