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pink salmon

American  

noun

  1. a small Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, distinguished by its small scales and long anal fin and by the bright red spawning coloration of males, occurring from California to Alaska and in waters of Japan: fished commercially and for sport.


pink salmon British  

noun

  1. any salmon having pale pink flesh, esp Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, of the Pacific Ocean

  2. the flesh of such a fish

"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

Etymology

Origin of pink salmon

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The team's findings, published in Ecology & Evolution, showed that anisakid levels increased in chum and pink salmon between 1979 and 2021.

From Science Daily Apr. 1, 2026

The rising numbers of worms in chum and pink salmon could reflect the fact that those species tend to live near shore as juveniles, closer to marine mammals that perpetuate the parasites’ life cycle.

From Science Magazine May 7, 2024

Chinook and pink salmon lived in the middle of those ranges.

From Science Daily Apr. 16, 2024

Ruggerone said that the big increase in the hatchery salmon, along with surging numbers of wild pink salmon in a warming ocean, have intensified competition for food in the North Pacific.

From Seattle Times Aug. 28, 2022

"By-the-way," she continued, "have you heard the historic story about the pink salmon?"

From The Silver Horde by Beach, Rex Ellingwood

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