rainbow trout

American

noun

a trout, Salmo gairdnerii, native in the coastal waters and streams from Baja California to Alaska, used as a food and game fish.

rainbow trout British

noun

a freshwater trout of North American origin, Salmo gairdneri , having a body marked with many black spots and two longitudinal red stripes

"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 rainbow trout

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

rainbow trout

Excursions with Vail Valley Anglers, booked through the hotel, offer a chance to cast for brown and rainbow trout.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

Fish species affected included largemouth bass, black crappie, bluegill, channel catfish, flathead catfish, and stocked species such as brown trout and rainbow trout.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 18, 2026

But those rainbow trout — identifiable by iridescent colors running down their sides — are blocked from journeying to the ocean and back by man-made barriers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 14, 2025

In 2022, China produced 37,000 tonnes of rainbow trout.

From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2025

How it contains thousands of lakes, filled with fish of all kinds—walleye, for one thing, catfish, largemouth bass, rainbow trout, perch, and pike.

From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023