fish
fish Lexical Profile
fish Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A limbless, cold-blooded vertebrate animal with gills and fins, living wholly in water.
"The children gathered around the pond to watch the colorful fish swim by."
The flesh of fish caught and prepared to be eaten as food.
"She ordered the grilled fish with a side of steamed vegetables for dinner."
• verb
To catch or try to catch fish, typically by using a net or hook and line.
"They woke up before dawn to fish for trout in the mountain stream."
To search blindly or awkwardly by groping and feeling for something concealed.
"He fished in his deep coat pocket for the misplaced keys."
To seek something indirectly or by hinting (usually followed by 'for').
"She was clearly fishing for compliments when she harshly criticized her own successful presentation."
Word Nuance & Usage
The plural 'fish' is used for multiple individuals of the same species, whereas 'fishes' is typically reserved for scientific or formal contexts to denote multiple distinct species.
• Rhymes for fish
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'fisc', of Germanic origin; related to Dutch 'vis' and German 'Fisch', from an Indo-European root shared by Latin 'piscis'.