surgeonfish

[sur-juh n-fish]

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

any tropical, coral-reef fish of the family Acanthuridae, with one or more sharp spines near the base of the tail fin.

Origin of surgeonfish

1870–75, Americanism; surgeon + fish; so called from the resemblance of its spines to a surgeon's instruments

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for surgeonfish

surgeonfish

noun plural -fish or -fishes

any tropical marine spiny-finned fish of the family Acanthuridae, having a compressed brightly coloured body with one or more knifelike spines at the base of the tail

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