squawfish

American  

[skwaw-fish] / ˈskwɔˌfɪʃ /

noun

PLURAL

squawfish

PLURAL

squawfishes

1. any of several large, voracious cyprinid fishes of the genus Ptychocheilus, inhabiting rivers of the western United States and Canada: The Colorado squawfish, P. lucius, is endangered.

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Etymology

Origin of squawfish

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; squaw + fish

Example Sentences

Wilson learned to read the sea from his grandmother, who could tell from her front porch where to find squawfish and grunters at low tide.

From Washington Times

The Sacramento pike, known also by the names chappaul and squawfish, and as lake trout in the San Joaquin Valley, while but little sought after by the angler, can rightfully be classed as a game fish, for it rises to the fly as readily as a trout and often gets cursed for doing so.

From Project Gutenberg

In the Southwest a $582 million water project is delayed because it threatens the squawfish.

From Time Magazine Archive

Colorado squawfish A $590 million water project has been put on hold because it would threaten the survival of this outsize predator.

From Time Magazine Archive

Shortnose sturgeon, longjaw cisco, Piute, greenback and Montana west-slope cutthroat trout, Gila and Apache trout, the desert and Moapa dace, humpback chub, Colorado River squawfish, Cui-ui, Devils Hole, Comanche Springs and Owens River pupfish, Pahrump killifish, Gila top minnow, Maryland darter and blue pike.

From Time Magazine Archive