tarpon
Americannoun
noun
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a large silvery clupeoid game fish, Tarpon atlanticus, of warm Atlantic waters, having a compressed body covered with large scales: family Elopidae
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another name for ox-eye herring
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any similar related fish
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected 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.
See Examples For:
Our example, upfitted with the Launch Package specification, did just that, ripping away from red lights like a spooked tarpon, and me just hanging on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
Called the "depredation rate," the team found that 15.3% of tarpon that were hooked by anglers and fought for more than five minutes were eaten while still on the line.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 22, 2024
They then caught and tagged 51 tarpon and 14 hammerhead sharks.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 22, 2024
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
All I had to do to save myself was let go of the stupid fishing rod, but it was the biggest tarpon I’d ever seen and I wanted desperately to catch it.
From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen
"It greatly expands our knowledge of the evolutionary history of tarpons, and it preserves unique and unusual features in exquisite 3D detail," he says.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 12, 2026
That did not include more than 100 manatees statewide and an untold number of fish, as well as large animals such as sharks and tarpons.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 28, 2018
We would swim with the tarpons and snorkel the reefs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2018
As bites taper off, we pull anchor and head farther upstream, eyes out for telltale rolling of feeding tarpons.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2017
In winter the tarpons go south, and perhaps the best place to fish them is at Tempico in Mexico.
From Ranching, Sport and Travel by Carson, Thomas
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.
