shad
Americannoun
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a deep-bodied herring, Alosa sapidissima, of Europe and North America, that migrates up streams to spawn, used for food.
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any other fish of the genus Alosa or related genera.
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any of several unrelated fishes.
noun
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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)
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any of various similar but unrelated fishes
Etymology
Origin of shad
before 1050; Old English sceadd (not recorded in ME)
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.
The River Lugg is home to six protected and endangered species, including common otter, Atlantic salmon, white clawed crayfish, brook lamprey, shad and bullhead.
From BBC • May 26, 2026
High-frequency noises deter shad, but might be harmful to dolphins, which communicate using high frequencies.
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
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
Runs of spawning Atlantic salmon, short- nose sturgeon, striped bass, and American shad annually filled the harbor.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
