Halibut
/ˈhæ.lɪ.bət/ noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A large flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus, which sometimes leaves the ocean floor and swims vertically.
"[...] she frowned a displeased frown and told me for heaven's sake to stop goggling like a dead halibut."
- 2 marine food fish of the northern Atlantic or northern Pacific; the largest flatfish and one of the largest teleost fishes wordnet
- 3 lean flesh of very large flatfish of Atlantic or Pacific wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"They eat half of the world's halibut."
Etymology
From Middle English *halibutt, equivalent to holy + but (“flatfish”), since the fish was often eaten on holy days. Cognate with Dutch heilbot, German Heiligbutt, Heilbutt, Heilbutte, Danish helleflynder, Swedish helgeflundra, and Norwegian Nynorsk hellefisk.