rainbow trout

American  

noun

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

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rainbow trout British  

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of rainbow trout

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85

Example Sentences

Steelhead trout are the same species as rainbow trout, but they have different lifestyles.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2025

I had attended a Fishwife pop-up in Manhattan, where I feasted on deviled eggs with smoked rainbow trout, butter & anchovy toast, salmon seaweed snacks and caviar bumps.

From Salon • Apr. 7, 2025

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

This is a relatively small amount compared with international production levels, but still notable considering that rainbow trout is a new farmed species in China, unlike traditional species like carp.

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