whitebait

[ hwahyt-beyt, wahyt- ]

noun,plural white·bait.
  1. a young sprat or herring.

  2. Cooking. any small, delicate fish cooked whole without being cleaned, especially the sprat.

Origin of whitebait

1
First recorded in 1750–60; white + bait, so called from use as bait

Words Nearby whitebait

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How to use whitebait in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for whitebait

whitebait

/ (ˈwaɪtˌbeɪt) /


noun
  1. the young of herrings, sprats, etc, cooked and eaten whole as a delicacy

  2. any of various small silvery fishes, such as Galaxias attenuatus of Australia and New Zealand and Allosmerus elongatus of North American coastal regions of the Pacific

Origin of whitebait

1
C18: from its formerly having been used as bait

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