sunfish

[ suhn-fish ]

/ ˈsʌnˌfɪʃ /

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See synonyms for: sunfish / sunfishes on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural (especially collectively) sun·fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) sun·fish·es.

any of various other fishes of the family Molidae.

any of several small, brightly colored, spiny-rayed freshwater fishes of the genus Lepomis, of North America, having a deep, compressed body.

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Origin of sunfish

First recorded in 1620–30; sun + fish

Words nearby sunfish

sundrops, sundry, sundry shop, Sundsvall, sunfast, sunfish, sunflower, Sunflower State, sung, Sungari, sungazing

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use sunfish in a sentence

Leatherback turtles, opah, and large numbers of ocean sunfish have been reported off Washington.
Fishy Mystery: Are Beached Oarfish Trying to Tell Us Something?|Kevin Bailey|October 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I plowed through a couple hundred suspects, throwing back mere centimillionaires the way pro bass fishermen discard sunfish.
Forbes' Rich Get Richer|Randall Lane|September 23, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Then all of a sudden the blue and yellow floater went under and little Hepzebiah caught a sunfish, too.
Seven O'Clock Stories|Robert Gordon Anderson
After the Toyman had taken the sunfish from the hook and put another worm on it, he threw the line back into the water.
Seven O'Clock Stories|Robert Gordon Anderson

The orangespotted sunfish was found in every stream surveyed, although only one specimen was taken from the Arkansas River.
Fishes of Chautauqua, Cowley and Elk Counties, Kansas|Artie L. Metcalf
At the uppermost pool (G-17) only small green sunfish were found.
Fishes of Chautauqua, Cowley and Elk Counties, Kansas|Artie L. Metcalf
When the time comes, the sunfish makes its nest in the fine gravel, building it with some care—for a fish.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, July 1899|Various

British Dictionary definitions for sunfish

sunfish

/ (ˈsʌnˌfɪʃ) /

noun plural -fish or -fishes

any large plectognath fish of the family Molidae, of temperate and tropical seas, esp Mola mola, which has a large rounded compressed body, long pointed dorsal and anal fins, and a fringelike tail fin

any of various small predatory North American freshwater percoid fishes of the family Centrarchidae, typically having a compressed brightly coloured body

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

sunfish

Origin of sunfish

Words nearby sunfish

Words related to sunfish

How to use sunfish in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for sunfish