fish

noun

1. (countable)A typically cold-blooded vertebrate animal that lives in water, moving with the help of fins and breathing with gill; any vertebrate that is not a tetrapod.

   “Salmon is a fish.”

   “The fishmonger sells fishes from all over the world.”

   “Ichthyologists study the fish of the world.”

   “We have many fish in our aquarium.”

2. (countable, uncountable)Any vertebrate, including tetrapods.
3. (archaic, broadly, countable, uncountable)Any animal (or any vertebrate) that lives exclusively in water.

   “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.”

   “Be it known that, waiving all argument, I take the good old fashioned ground that the whale is a fish, and call upon holy Jonah to back me.”

4. (archaic, broadly, countable, uncountable)Any animal (or any vertebrate) that lives exclusively in water.
5. (Newfoundland, countable, uncountable)Cod; codfish.
6. (uncountable)The flesh of the fish used as food.

   “The seafood pasta had lots of fish but not enough pasta.”

   “Though Lena is a vegetarian, she doesn't have any problem with eating fish.”

   “Include low-mercury fish in your diet (such as salmon) and eat at least five servings a day of fruit and vegetables, especially dark leafy greens, broccoli, and cauliflower. Avoid saturated and trans fats, which may hasten brain aging.”

7. (countable, uncountable)An aquatic or semiaquatic animal suitable for consumption during fasting on Fridays during Lent.

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

   “Throughout the Catholic Church's long history, archbishops and other prominent church leaders have made numerous declarations about which animals can be considered "fish for the purposes of Lent, even if those animals have virtually no similarities to fish in a scientific sense.”

   “During the 17th and 18th centuries, Catholics around the world began to liberally interpret "fish" as any aquatic-based creature, despite blood temperature, and created local meat exceptions that remain in place today.”

8. (uncountable)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.
9. (countable, slang)An easy victim for swindling.
10. (countable, slang)A bad poker player. Compare shark (a good poker player).
11. (countable)A makeshift overlapping longitudinal brace, originally shaped roughly like a fish, used to temporarily repair or extend a spar or mast of a ship.
12. (countable, uncountable)A purchase used to fish the anchor.
13. (countable, slang)A torpedo (self-propelled explosive device).

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

    “As we came off patrol we had some torpedoes fired at us by an enemy submarine but we dived out of the way. About April 10 we fired our fish in two salvoes at a convoy.”

14. (countable, uncountable)The thirty-fourth Lenormand card.
15. (derogatory, positive, slang, sometimes, uncountable)A (feminine) woman. (See also fishy.)
16. (countable, slang, uncountable)A new (usually vulnerable) prisoner.

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

17. (Jamaica, countable, derogatory, offensive, uncountable)A male homosexual; a gay man.

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

    “Bere gunman deh ya we nuh fren fish (hey bwoy)”

18. (countable, uncountable)A drag queen or transgender woman who looks like a cisgender woman.
19. (countable, rare, uncountable)A spaceship.
20. A period of time spent fishing.

    “The fish at the lake didn't prove successful.”

21. An instance of seeking something.

    “Merely two fishes for information told the whole story.”

22. (obsolete)A counter, used in various games.
23. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable)Acronym of fluorescent in situ hybridization, a molecular cytogenetic technique used to identify whether a DNA sample has a specific sequence.

verb

1. (intransitive, transitive)To hunt fish or other aquatic animals in a body of water, or to collect coral or pearls from the bottom of the sea.

   “We went fishing for crabs by the pier.”

   “She went to the river to fish for trout.”

   “19th c., anonymous, "The Bonny Ship the 'Diamond'" It's cheer up, my lads, let your hearts never fail, For the bonny ship the Diamond goes a-fishing for the whale.”

   “Thou hast fished salmon a thousand times, and mightst have taken a lesson.”

2. (transitive)To search (a body of water) for something other than fish.

   “They fished the surrounding lakes for the dead body.”

3. (transitive)To use as bait when fishing.

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

4. (intransitive)To (attempt to) find or get hold of an object by searching among other objects.

   “Why are you fishing through my things?”

   “He was fishing for the keys in his pocket.”

5. (intransitive)To talk to people in an attempt to get them to say something, or seek to obtain something by artifice.

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

   “The actors loitered at the door, fishing for compliments.”

   “Laoctonos is fishing for a compliment, But ’tis his due. Yes, you have drunk more wine, And shed more blood, than any man in Thebes.”

6. (intransitive)Of a batsman, to attempt to hit a ball outside off stump and miss it.
7. (transitive)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).

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

8. (transitive)To hoist the flukes of.

   “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 […]”

9. (transitive)To draw or guide (a wire or cable) by means of fish tape.

name

1. A surname.
2. The constellation and zodiacal sign Pisces.

   “The Fiſh directeth the feet: and theſe three be the ſigns of Winter.”

   “The Fish, His Church in union bound; The Lamb, once slain, but now enthroned; The Bull the victory shall gain; The Twins, Divine and human reign.”

   “Considering that after the domination of Taurus and Aries, the Fish (Pisces) comes next in succession as the Zodiacal sign for the Vernal Equinox, and is now the constellation in which the Sun stands at that period, it seems not impossible that the astronomical change has been the cause of the adoption of this new symbol.”

   “Pisces the Fish, the twelfth Sign, had been easy to find.”