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Definition of spiny dogfish
spiny dogfish
Plural:spiny dogfish
spiny dogfish Lexical Profile
CEFR
C1
Grade
8
Tier
3
Usage
Rare
• noun
1
A small, globally abundant species of shark (Squalus acanthias) found in shallow, temperate coastal waters, characterized by a lack of an anal fin and venomous spines located in front of its two dorsal fins.
Example
"During the marine biology lab, students carefully dissected a spiny dogfish to study the internal anatomy of cartilaginous fishes."
Synonyms
View all synonyms for spiny dogfish• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
The name derives from the venomous spines located in front of its dorsal fins ('spiny') and the historical observation by fishermen that these small sharks hunted in packs, chasing down schools of fish much like a pack of dogs ('dogfish').
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.
180019102020
Data source: Google Books Ngram Viewer
Cite this Entry
Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Spiny dogfish. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Oct 14, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/spiny dogfish