skipjack

American  

[skip-jak] / ˈskɪpˌdʒæk /

noun

skipjack, plural skipjacks plural, plural

1. any of various fishes that leap above the surface of the water, as a tuna, Euthynnus pelamis, or the bonito.

2. Entomology. click beetle.

3. Nautical. an American one-masted sailing vessel.

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skipjack British  

/ ˈskɪpˌdʒæk /

noun

1. Also called: skipjack tuna.  an important food fish, Katsuwonus pelamis, that has a striped abdomen and occurs in all tropical seas: family Scombridae (mackerels and tunas)

2. a small spotted tuna, Euthynnus yaito, of Indo-Pacific seas

3. any of several other unrelated fishes, such as the alewife and bonito

4. nautical an American sloop used for oystering and as a yacht

5. another name for a click beetle

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• skipjack
  plural
• skipjacks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of skipjack

First recorded in 1545–55; skip ¹ + jack ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

skipjack skipjacks

Collectively, this area is bigger than India and offers access to an ocean abundant with marine life, including skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna.

From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2026

They specifically looked at tropical tuna -- skipjack, bigeye and yellowfin.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 21, 2024

It has contracted directly with Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, to supply canned skipjack tuna for its Great Value brand.

From Scientific American ● Jul. 14, 2023

My mother recalled how Tomoyo would go to the fish market, look at all the fish and then buy the big tuna — or aku, as skipjack tuna is commonly known in Hawaii.

From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2023

To Franky he would give languid advice about the pictures he was colouring, about the amount of cobbler's wax to affix to the skipjack he was making, about the rigging of his walnut ships.

From Mrs. Day's Daughters by Mann, Mary E.

Standing at the shores of the little bay, Roy pointed out the skipjacks, still flipping.

From New York Times ● Jul. 7, 2023

They passed through the military gates, along a dirt road and onto the shore of a little cove, next to one of America’s deepest harbors, where skipjacks flipped out of the aquamarine water.

From New York Times ● Jul. 7, 2023

And duckpin bowling is as Maryland as skipjacks and Old Bay.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 7, 2022

They cranked rap to buoy spirits as they fished with 5-pound skipjacks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2019

I saw also some bonetas, and some skipjacks, a fish about 8 inches long, broad, and sizable, not much unlike a roach; which our seamen call so from their leaping about.

From A Voyage to New Holland by Dampier, William