Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for smolt. Search instead for smolts.

smolt

American  
[smohlt] / smoʊlt /

noun

  1. a young, silvery salmon in the stage of its first migration to the sea.


smolt British  
/ sməʊlt /

noun

  1. a young salmon at the stage when it migrates from fresh water to the sea

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of smolt

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English; perhaps akin to smelt 2

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.

On a recent morning in March, while dew was still on the road, there occurred the salmon smolt mishap of Northeast Oregon.

From New York Times • Apr. 3, 2024

The department has temporarily suspended smolt trapping at the Duckabush River.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 26, 2024

Seven of the eight sockeyes were missing their adipose fins, indicating that they had originated in hatcheries, which remove the fins before releasing smolt into the wild.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 18, 2021

Developmental stages—the transitions between the eggs, fry, parr, smolt, and returning salmon—are governed by changes in water temperature, and warmer waters can disrupt the salmon’s life cycle by triggering stunted growth or premature hatching.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 7, 2019

In its various and progressive stages, it passes under the names of fry, smolt, orange-fin, phinock, herling, whitling, sea-trout, and salmon-trout.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 53, No. 331, May, 1843 by Various

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember "smolt" for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com