trout
Americannoun
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trout,
plural
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trouts
plural
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any of several game fishes of the genus Salmo, related to the salmon.
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any of various game fishes of the salmon family of the genus Salvelinus.
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any of several unrelated fishes, as a bass, Micropterus salmoides, a drum of the genus Cynoscion, or a greenling of the genus Hexagrammos.
noun
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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
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any of various similar or related fishes, such as a sea trout
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any of various fishes of the Salmo or Oncorhynchus genera smaller than the salmon, esp European and American varieties naturalized in Australia
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informal an irritating or grumpy person, esp a woman
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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:
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
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:
As the state has relied heavily on its water, native fish such as Chinook salmon, steelhead trout and longfin smelt have declined.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
The trout crudo, served with seasonal accompaniments, is always fresh, bright and good enough that I never really want to share it.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
“The water is so pure you can drink it,” it read, “so clean even rainbow trout will thrive in it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
A spokesperson said trout, eels and lamprey were all confirmed dead.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
And, hey, they helped me catch six nice trout earlier today.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
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
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.
