trout

American  

[trout] / traʊt /

noun

• trout,
  plural
• trouts
  plural

1. any of several game fishes of the genus Salmo, related to the salmon.

2. any of various game fishes of the salmon family of the genus Salvelinus.

3. any of several unrelated fishes, as a bass, Micropterus salmoides, a drum of the genus Cynoscion, or a greenling of the genus Hexagrammos.

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trout British  

/ traʊt /

noun

1. any of various game fishes, esp Salmo trutta and related species, mostly of fresh water in northern regions: family Salmonidae (salmon). They resemble salmon but are smaller and spotted

2. any of various similar or related fishes, such as a sea trout

3. any of various fishes of the Salmo or Oncorhynchus genera smaller than the salmon, esp European and American varieties naturalized in Australia

4. informal an irritating or grumpy person, esp a woman

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• troutless
  adjective
• troutlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• trout
  plural
• trouts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of trout

before 1050; Middle English trou ( h ) te, Old English truht < Latin tructa < Greek trṓktēs gnawer, a sea fish, equivalent to trṓg ( ein ) to gnaw + -tēs agent noun suffix

Compare meaning

How does trout compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• steelhead vs. trout

Explanation

A trout is a kind of fish that lives mainly in lakes and rivers. People like to eat trout, and so do eagles and brown bears. Trout are freshwater fish, although some species, including rainbow trout, divide their time between fresh water and the ocean. The coloring of an individual type of trout depends on where it lives, since its skin works as a kind of camouflage. If it's spent a few years in the ocean, a trout's skin often turns silvery. The source of the word trout is thought to be the Greek troktes, "nibbler."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trout trouts

"The incident could have serious consequences for the river's salmon and sea trout populations for many years to come," added the club.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

A spokesperson said trout, eels and lamprey were all confirmed dead.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

Once the cleanup was completed, the district reopened the lake in April and stocked it with 2,000 pounds of trout and 500 pounds of lightning trout.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

While the area is known as the Land of Little Rivers for its abundance of trout streams, that wasn’t why I’d chosen it as a classroom.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026

Mandy had just sprinkled parsley over thirty servings of trout, and Nancy was ready to convey them to the guests.

From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine

Experts since Friday have tried to feed the beluga with dead herrings and live trouts, with no success.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 8, 2022

Fall months producing a great bite for redfish and trouts mainly on kwigglers red and white ball tail and paddle tail.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 16, 2019

Go Team Janet – we sour old trouts need to stick together.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 28, 2012

America should realize that it is terribly hard to catch trout with just bread crumbs, especially when other countries know exactly what trouts like.

From Time Magazine Archive

School ends, and children have time to play and to fish for trouts in the brook.

From "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White