toadfish

[tohd-fish]

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

any of several thick-headed, wide-mouthed fishes of the family Batrachoididae, as Opsanus tau (oyster toadfish), ranging along the Atlantic coast of the U.S.

puffer(def 2).

Origin of toadfish

First recorded in 1605–15; toad + fish

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

Examples from the Web for toadfish

Historical Examples of toadfish

The best way to do this with man as well as with toadfish is to learn about their lives.
The Fall of the Year
Dallas Lore Sharp
It is along in June that the toadfish of our New England bays begin to look round for their summer homes.
The Fall of the Year
Dallas Lore Sharp
Does the toadfish become anything more than a mere toadfish in a shoe before the end of the chapter?
The Fall of the Year
Dallas Lore Sharp
The toadfish of this story is Batrachus tau, sometimes called oyster-fish or sapo.
The Fall of the Year
Dallas Lore Sharp

British Dictionary definitions for toadfish

toadfish

noun plural -fish or -fishes

any spiny-finned bottom-dwelling marine fish of the family Batrachoididae, of tropical and temperate seas, having a flattened tapering body and a wide mouth

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