triggerfish

[trig-er-fish]

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

any of various compressed, deep-bodied fishes of the genus Balistes and allied genera, chiefly inhabiting tropical seas, having an anterior dorsal fin with three stout spines: some are edible while others are poisonous.

Origin of triggerfish

First recorded in 1880–85; trigger + fish

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

British Dictionary definitions for triggerfish

triggerfish

noun plural -fish or -fishes

any plectognath fish of the family Balistidae, of tropical and temperate seas. They have a compressed body with erectile spines in the first dorsal fin

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