rockfish

[rok-fish]

noun, plural (especially collectively) rock·fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) rock·fish·es.

any of various fishes found about rocks.
striped bass.
any of the North Pacific and Atlantic marine fishes of the genus Sebastes.

scorpionfish.

Origin of rockfish

First recorded in 1590–1600; rock¹ + fish

Also called rock cod (for defs 1–3).

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for rockfish

Historical Examples of rockfish

If I mought be so bold, ma'am, how far mought it be to a river they call the Rockfish?
Horse-Shoe Robinson
John Pendleton Kennedy
He ax' de po' buckrah whar he got de mule, en de po' buckrah say his brer raise' de mule down on Rockfish Creek.
The Conjure Woman
Charles W. Chesnutt
For cutting a road from Rockfish gap to Scott's and Nicholas's landing, 400.
Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
You make the south side of the mountain near Rockfish Gap, one thousand seven hundred and twenty-two feet above Woods.
Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
She had b'long' ter a gemman over on Rockfish, w'at died, en whose 'state ha' ter be sol' fer ter pay his debts.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue
Various

British Dictionary definitions for rockfish

rockfish

noun plural -fish or -fishes

any of various fishes that live among rocks, esp scorpaenid fishes of the genus Sebastodes and related genera, such as S. caurinus (copper rockfish) of North American Pacific coastal waters
British any of several coarse fishes when used as food, esp the dogfish or wolffishFormerly called: rock salmon

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