shiner

American  

[shahy-ner] / ˈʃaɪ nər /

noun

1. a person or thing that shines. shine.

2. Slang. black eye.

3. any of various small American freshwater fishes having glistening scales, especially a minnow.

4. any of various silvery, marine fishes, as the menhaden or butterfish.

5. a defect in silk or synthetic filament or fabric, produced either in the process of winding or as a result of shuttle friction and appearing on fabric as a shiny streak.

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shiner British  

/ ˈʃaɪnə /

noun

1. something that shines, such as a polishing device

2. any of numerous small North American freshwater cyprinid fishes of the genus Notropis and related genera, such as N. cornutus ( common shiner ) and Notemigonus crysoleucas ( golden shiner )

3. a popular name for the mackerel

4. informal a black eye

5. old-fashioned a vagrant or tramp

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Etymology

Origin of shiner

1350–1400; 1900–05 shiner for def. 2; Middle English; shine ¹, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Anthony Davis has a shiner, and things just got heavier.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2024

The massacre was sparked by the arrest of Dick Rowland, 19, a Black shoe shiner who was accused of assault against Sarah Page, 17, a white elevator operator.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 1, 2021

For decades, white and black Tulsans refused to talk about the events of May 31, 1921, when a black man who worked as a shoe shiner was accused of assaulting a white woman.

From New York Times • Jun. 19, 2020

Crappie are picking up on mostly on jigs or live shiner.

From Washington Times • Oct. 9, 2019

The kids would surely call her “a shiner of apples for teacher’s dog” next.

From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord