fish 1 |fiSH|
noun ( pl. same or fishes )
a limbless cold-blooded vertebrate animal with gills and fins and living wholly in water: the sea is thick with fish.
• the flesh of such animals as food: hot crab appetizers stuffed with fish.
• (the Fish or Fishes) the zodiacal sign or constellation Pisces.
• used in names of invertebrate animals living wholly in water, e.g., cuttlefish, shellfish, jellyfish.
• [ with adj. ] informal a person who is strange in a specified way: he is generally thought to be a bit of a cold fish .
• informal a torpedo.
verb [ no obj. ]
catch or try to catch fish, typically by using a net or hook and line: he was fishing for bluefish | I've told the girls we've gone fishing .
• [ with obj. ] catch or try to catch fish in (a particular body of water): they did fish the mountain streams when game grew scarce.
• search, typically by groping or feeling for something concealed: he fished for his registration certificate and held it up to the policeman's flashlight.
• try subtly or deviously to elicit a response or some information from someone: I was not fishing for compliments .
• [ with obj. ] (fish something out) pull or take something out of water or a container: the body of a woman had been fished out of the river.
PHRASES
a big fish an important or influential person: he became a big fish in the world of politics.
a big fish in a small (or little ) pond a person seen as important and influential only within the limited scope of a small organization or group.
drink like a fish drink excessive amounts of alcohol.
fish or cut bait see bait.
a fish out of water a person in a completely unsuitable environment or situation.
fished out depleted of fish: the grayling here have hardly been fished out.
have other (or bigger ) fish to fry have other (or more important) matters to attend to.
like shooting fish in a barrel extremely easy: picking cultivated berries is like shooting fish in a barrel.
neither fish nor fowl ( nor good red herring )of indefinite character and difficult to identify or classify.
there are plenty more fish in the sea used to console someone whose romantic relationship has ended by pointing out that there are many other people with whom they may have a successful relationship in the future.
DERIVATIVES
fishlike adjective
ORIGIN Old English fisc (as a noun denoting any animal living exclusively in water), fiscian (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vis, vissen and German Fisch, fischen .
usage: The normal plural of fish is fish ( a shoal of fish ; he caught two huge fish ). The older form fishes is still used, but almost exclusively when referring to different kinds of fish ( freshwater fishes of the Great Lakes).
fish 2 |fiSH|
noun
a flat plate of metal, wood, or another material that is fixed on a beam or across a joint in order to give additional strength, esp. on a ship's damaged mast or spar as a temporary repair.
verb [ with obj. ]
mend or strengthen (a beam, joint, mast, etc.) with a fish.
• join (rails in a railroad track) with a fishplate.
ORIGIN early 16th cent.: probably from French fiche, from ficher ‘to fix,’ based on Latin figere .
noun ( pl. same or fishes )
a limbless cold-blooded vertebrate animal with gills and fins and living wholly in water: the sea is thick with fish.
• the flesh of such animals as food: hot crab appetizers stuffed with fish.
• (the Fish or Fishes) the zodiacal sign or constellation Pisces.
• used in names of invertebrate animals living wholly in water, e.g., cuttlefish, shellfish, jellyfish.
• [ with adj. ] informal a person who is strange in a specified way: he is generally thought to be a bit of a cold fish .
• informal a torpedo.
verb [ no obj. ]
catch or try to catch fish, typically by using a net or hook and line: he was fishing for bluefish | I've told the girls we've gone fishing .
• [ with obj. ] catch or try to catch fish in (a particular body of water): they did fish the mountain streams when game grew scarce.
• search, typically by groping or feeling for something concealed: he fished for his registration certificate and held it up to the policeman's flashlight.
• try subtly or deviously to elicit a response or some information from someone: I was not fishing for compliments .
• [ with obj. ] (fish something out) pull or take something out of water or a container: the body of a woman had been fished out of the river.
PHRASES
a big fish an important or influential person: he became a big fish in the world of politics.
a big fish in a small (or little ) pond a person seen as important and influential only within the limited scope of a small organization or group.
drink like a fish drink excessive amounts of alcohol.
fish or cut bait see bait.
a fish out of water a person in a completely unsuitable environment or situation.
fished out depleted of fish: the grayling here have hardly been fished out.
have other (or bigger ) fish to fry have other (or more important) matters to attend to.
like shooting fish in a barrel extremely easy: picking cultivated berries is like shooting fish in a barrel.
neither fish nor fowl ( nor good red herring )of indefinite character and difficult to identify or classify.
there are plenty more fish in the sea used to console someone whose romantic relationship has ended by pointing out that there are many other people with whom they may have a successful relationship in the future.
DERIVATIVES
fishlike adjective
ORIGIN Old English fisc (as a noun denoting any animal living exclusively in water), fiscian (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vis, vissen and German Fisch, fischen .
usage: The normal plural of fish is fish ( a shoal of fish ; he caught two huge fish ). The older form fishes is still used, but almost exclusively when referring to different kinds of fish ( freshwater fishes of the Great Lakes).
fish 2 |fiSH|
noun
a flat plate of metal, wood, or another material that is fixed on a beam or across a joint in order to give additional strength, esp. on a ship's damaged mast or spar as a temporary repair.
verb [ with obj. ]
mend or strengthen (a beam, joint, mast, etc.) with a fish.
• join (rails in a railroad track) with a fishplate.
ORIGIN early 16th cent.: probably from French fiche, from ficher ‘to fix,’ based on Latin figere .
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