shad

American  

[shad] / ʃæd /

noun

plural

shad,

plural

shads

1. a deep-bodied herring, Alosa sapidissima, of Europe and North America, that migrates up streams to spawn, used for food.

2. any other fish of the genus Alosa or related genera.

3. any of several unrelated fishes.

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shad British  

/ ʃæd /

noun

1. any of various herring-like food fishes of the genus Alosa and related genera, such as A. alosa ( allis shad ) of Europe, that migrate from the sea to freshwater to spawn: family Clupeidae (herrings)

2. any of various similar but unrelated fishes

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Etymology

Origin of shad

before 1050; Old English sceadd (not recorded in ME)

Example Sentences

A recent independent U.K. report on the nuclear sector found it would spare the lives of 0.028 sea trout, six river lamprey, 18 allis shad and 528 twaite shad every year.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025

An ajar clam Can stank a tad That wafts all damn day — As dank as bad shad.

From Washington Post • Oct. 13, 2022

But an emerging threat becomes evident in early June as Friesen hauls up minnow traps and gillnets packed with carp, gizzard shad, green sunfish and, ominously, three smallmouth bass.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 14, 2022

Some recipes are complex, like making wine from muscadine grapes, or stuffing shad with parsley rice and serving it with roe — a two-day effort.

From New York Times • May 9, 2022

“Oh. Well I know that, I was up there already, but there weren’t any shad so I’m going someplace else now.”

From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier