shiner

American  

[shahy-ner] / ˈʃaɪ nər /

noun

1. a person or thing that shines.

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.

---

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

---

Etymology

Origin of shiner

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

Example Sentences

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

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2024

Her Moschino shiner had wings at the shoulders.

From Washington Times • May 3, 2022

With a welt near his ear and a shiner under one eye, umpire Junior Valentine worked the plate right on schedule.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 14, 2021

“The truth is that here as the poor people that we are, we don’t understand that,” José Lopez, 81, a shoe shiner in San Salvador, said before the national Bitcoin adoption.

From New York Times • Sep. 7, 2021

“Yep. Boy. Noses gush, don’t they? Looks like your glasses didn’t do you any favors, either. You have a cut there from that nose pad thing. May get a decent shiner out of it too.”

From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell