tarpon
Americannoun
noun
-
a large silvery clupeoid game fish, Tarpon atlanticus, of warm Atlantic waters, having a compressed body covered with large scales: family Elopidae
-
another name for ox-eye herring
-
any similar related fish
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tarpon
1675–85; earlier tarpum, trapham, terbum, of uncertain origin; compare Dutch tarpoen; words in various Indian languages of Central America ( Miskito tapam, Sumo tahpam, Rama tā́pum, Paya ta’pam ) probably ultimately < English
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.
To help manage the health of both the tarpon fishery and the hammerhead population, the researchers urge solutions that don't impact either species.
From Science Daily • Jan. 22, 2024
Over the course of more than two years, every time one of the tagged tarpon or hammerheads swam within range of the receiver, the receiver would log that individual animal's unique ID, date and time.
From Science Daily • Jan. 22, 2024
The team also found that tarpon tend to congregate in Bahia Honda during the spring, pre-spawning seasons -- and the hammerheads know it.
From Science Daily • Jan. 22, 2024
They then caught and tagged 51 tarpon and 14 hammerhead sharks.
From Science Daily • Jan. 22, 2024
Baby tarpon are abundant in all that labyrinth of mangrove-lined streams and canals bordering the lower third of the western coast of Florida.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
