Fish

/fɪʃ/ name, noun, verb, slang

name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A typically cold-blooded vertebrate animal that lives in water, moving with the help of fins and breathing with gills.
  • Grammar: fish is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: angle, aerial torpedo, albacore, alevin.
  • Useful contrasts: balaena, chou, directness.
  • Usage evidence: I'm not a real fish, I'm just a mere plushy.

How to use "fish"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "fish" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "fish" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "fish" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "fish" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "fish" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "angle" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "fish", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A typically cold-blooded vertebrate animal that lives in water, moving with the help of fins and breathing with gills. countable

    "Salmon is a fish."

  2. 2
    A period of time spent fishing.

    "The fish at the lake didn't prove successful."

  3. 3
    A counter, used in various games. obsolete
  4. 4
    Acronym of fluorescent in situ hybridization, a molecular cytogenetic technique used to identify whether a DNA sample has a specific sequence. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable
  5. 5
    any of various mostly cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates usually having scales and breathing through gills wordnet
Show 25 more definitions
  1. 6
    A paraphyletic grouping of the following taxonomic groups:; A jawless fish (paraphyletic infraphylum Agnatha). countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    An instance of seeking something.

    "Merely two fishes for information told the whole story."

  3. 8
    the flesh of fish used as food wordnet
  4. 9
    A paraphyletic grouping of the following taxonomic groups:; In infraphylum Gnathostomata:; A cartilaginous fish (class Chondrichthyes). countable, uncountable
  5. 10
    (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Pisces wordnet
  6. 11
    A paraphyletic grouping of the following taxonomic groups:; In infraphylum Gnathostomata:; A bony fish (clade Osteichthyes), including tetrapods. countable, uncountable
  7. 12
    A paraphyletic grouping of the following taxonomic groups:; In infraphylum Gnathostomata:; A placoderm (paraphyletic class †Placodermi). countable, uncountable
  8. 13
    A paraphyletic grouping of the following taxonomic groups:; In infraphylum Gnathostomata:; A spiny shark (paraphyletic class †Acanthodii) countable, uncountable
  9. 14
    Any animal (or any vertebrate) that lives exclusively in water. archaic, broadly, countable, uncountable

    "The whale, the limpet, the tortoise and the oyster… as men have been willing to give them all the name of fishes, it is wisest for us to conform."

  10. 15
    Any animal (or any vertebrate) that lives exclusively in water.; Now used in combination: (e.g., starfish, cuttlefish, jellyfish, etc). archaic, broadly, countable, uncountable
  11. 16
    Cod; codfish. Newfoundland, countable, uncountable
  12. 17
    The flesh of the fish used as food. uncountable

    "The seafood pasta had lots of fish but not enough pasta."

  13. 18
    An aquatic or semiaquatic animal suitable for consumption during fasting on Fridays during Lent. countable, uncountable

    "Since the semi-aquatic beaver was a skilled swimmer, the Church declared it to be a fish for dietary purposes."

  14. 19
    A card game in which the object is to obtain cards in pairs or sets of four (depending on the variation), by asking the other players for cards of a particular rank. uncountable
  15. 20
    An easy victim for swindling. countable, slang
  16. 21
    A bad poker player. Compare shark (a good poker player). countable, slang
  17. 22
    A makeshift overlapping longitudinal brace, originally shaped roughly like a fish, used to temporarily repair or extend a spar or mast of a ship. countable
  18. 23
    A purchase used to fish the anchor. countable, uncountable
  19. 24
    A torpedo (self-propelled explosive device). countable, slang

    "The second and third fish went to the middle of her long superstructure and under her forward deck."

  20. 25
    The thirty-fourth Lenormand card. countable, uncountable
  21. 26
    A (feminine) woman. (See also fishy.) derogatory, positive, slang, sometimes, uncountable
  22. 27
    A new (usually vulnerable) prisoner. countable, slang, uncountable

    "When a young male enters the prison system he is looked over and is labeled a FISH."

  23. 28
    A male homosexual; a gay man. Jamaica, countable, derogatory, offensive, uncountable

    "Him father is a fish so mi know say it's sprat dat"

  24. 29
    A drag queen or transgender woman who looks like a cisgender woman. countable, uncountable
  25. 30
    A spaceship. countable, rare, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To hunt fish or other aquatic animals in a body of water, or to collect coral or pearls from the bottom of the sea. intransitive, transitive

    "We went fishing for crabs by the pier."

  2. 2
    catch or try to catch fish or shellfish wordnet
  3. 3
    To search (a body of water) for something other than fish. transitive

    "They fished the surrounding lakes for the dead body."

  4. 4
    seek indirectly wordnet
  5. 5
    To use as bait when fishing. transitive

    "`What you need are frogs,' said the veteran. `Fish them at night. There's nothing like them on big cork floats.'"

Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    To (attempt to) find or get hold of an object by searching among other objects. intransitive

    "Why are you fishing through my things?"

  2. 7
    To talk to people in an attempt to get them to say something, or seek to obtain something by artifice. intransitive

    "The detective visited the local pubs fishing around for more information."

  3. 8
    Of a batsman, to attempt to hit a ball outside off stump and miss it. intransitive
  4. 9
    To repair (a spar or mast) by fastening a beam or other long object (often called a fish) over the damaged part (see Noun above). transitive

    "[…] the crew were set to replacing and splicing the rigging and fishing the spars."

  5. 10
    To hoist the flukes of. transitive

    "Found that the cause of the ship's having drifted on the night of the 19th, was from the bight of the chain span (used to fish the anchor,) having slipped between the shank and upper fluke, thereby preventing the lower fluke from opening […]"

  6. 11
    To draw or guide (a wire or cable) by means of fish tape. transitive
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
angleaerial torpedoalbacorealevinalewifealligator gar

Example

"I'm not a real fish, I'm just a mere plushy."

Common questions

What does "fish" mean?

A typically cold-blooded vertebrate animal that lives in water, moving with the help of fins and breathing with gills.

What is a synonym for "fish"?

Common synonyms include: angle, aerial torpedo, albacore, alevin, alewife, alligator gar.

How do you use "fish" in a sentence?

I'm not a real fish, I'm just a mere plushy.

How do you pronounce "fish"?

Pronounced /fɪʃ/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English fisch, from Old English fisċ (“fish”), from Proto-West Germanic *fisk, from Proto-Germanic *fiskaz (“fish”), from Proto-Indo-European *peysk- (“fish”). Cognates Cognate with Yola wish (“fish”), North Frisian fasch, fask, Fesk (“fish”), Saterland Frisian Fisk (“fish”), West Frisian fisk (“fish”), Cimbrian biss, visch, viss (“fish”), Dutch vis, visch (“fish”), Dutch Low Saxon, Mòcheno visch (“fish”), German Fisch (“fish”), German Low German Fösch (“fish”), Luxembourgish Fësch (“fish”), Yiddish פֿיש (fish, “fish”), Danish, Elfdalian, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish fisk (“fish”), Faroese, Icelandic fiskur (“fish”), Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐍃𐌺𐍃 (fisks, “fish”), Crimean Gothic fisct (“fish”). Compare Irish iasc (“fish”), Latin piscis (“fish”).

Etymology 2

Deverbal from to fish (etymology 3).

Etymology 3

From Old English fiscian, from Proto-West Germanic *fiskōn, from Proto-Germanic *fiskōną. Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian fiskje (“to fish”), Dutch vissen (“to fish”), German fischen (“to fish”), Limburgish vésche, vèsse (“to fish”), Luxembourgish fëschen (“to fish”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk fiske (“to fish”), Faroese, Icelandic and Swedish fiska (“to fish”), Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐍃𐌺𐍉𐌽 (fiskōn, “to fish”).

Etymology 4

Borrowed from French fiche (“peg, mark”).

Etymology 5

From fish, a metonymic occupational surname for a fish seller or a nickname for someone who resembled a fish. It could also be an Americanized spelling of German Fisch.

More for "fish"

Synonyms

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