Swordfish
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A large marine fish with a long, pointed bill, Xiphias gladius. countable, uncountable
"Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand. We spent consider'ble money getting 'em reset, and then a swordfish got into the pound and tore the nets all to slathers, right in the middle of the squiteague season."
- 2 large toothless marine food fish with a long swordlike upper jaw; not completely cold-blooded i.e. they are able to warm their brains and eyes: worldwide in warm waters but feed on cold ocean floor coming to surface at night wordnet
- 3 A sudoku technique involving possible cell locations for a digit, or pair, or triple, in uniquely three rows and three columns only. This allows for the elimination of candidates around the grid. countable, uncountable
- 4 flesh of swordfish usually served as steaks wordnet
- 1 To fish for swordfish.
Example
More examples"Microplastics — the remnants of plastic bags, takeout containers and straws that almost-but-not-quite disintegrate in the oceans — are found in 3 out of 4 fish, such as squid, cuttlefish and swordfish in markets around the world."
Etymology
From Middle English swerdfysche, from Old English *sweordfisċ. Equivalent to sword + fish.
Related phrases
More for "swordfish"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.