shad

American  

[shad] / ʃæd /

noun

shads plural

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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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• shad
  plural
• shads
  plural

Etymology

Origin of shad

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

Example Sentences

The Severn Estuary is home to huge numbers of sprats and salmon, and the twaite shad, a protected migrating species which spawns in the tributaries of the River Severn.

From BBC • Feb. 10, 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

This leaves no other choice but to impose and enforce greater harvest restrictions to prevent the iconic blue crab from collapsing, as have other mismanaged fisheries including oysters, soft clams, shad and sturgeon.

From Washington Post • Jul. 29, 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

In the spring the shad ran upriver to breed, but they couldn’t get past the milldam, and the pool was just swarming with them.

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