Pronunciation

/fɪʃ/

Definitions

• Noun: A cold-blooded aquatic animal that typically has scales, gills, fins, and lives underwater. Examples include salmon, trout, and tuna. For example: “The angler caught a large fish in the lake.”

  • As a mass noun: Fish can also refer to the flesh of such animals used as food. For instance: “She served fish and chips for dinner.”
  • Metaphorically, it can refer to a person who is attempting to deceive or ‘catch’ others. Example: “He’s a slippery fish; hard to pin down on details.”

• Verb: (transitive) To catch or attempt to catch fish as a sport or for food. Example: “On weekends, he likes to fish by the riverbank.”

  • (intransitive) To search for something by moving slowly through an area, often with one’s hands. Example: “She fished around in her purse for her keys.”

Phrases

• “A fish out of water”: Describing someone who feels uncomfortable or unable to adapt to a new environment or situation.
• “To fish for compliments”: To try to get people to praise you by making indirect comments about your own qualities or achievements.
• “There are plenty of fish in the sea”: This expression is often used to console someone after a romantic breakup, suggesting they will find other potential partners.

Example Sentences

• Noun: “The aquarium was filled with colorful tropical fish.”
• Verb: “They spent the day fishing off the pier, hoping to catch something for their dinner.”

Synonyms

• Catch (for the verb)
• Aquatic creature
• Seafood (for the edible context)
• Pisces (as a zoological classification)
• Swimmer (in a broader sense)

Note: The part-of-speech for “fish” as a verb is v, and as a noun is n. It doesn’t have common usage as an adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, pronoun, numeral, or interjection, though it can be used metaphorically in various idiomatic expressions.