| 释义 |
▪ I. fish, n.1|fɪʃ|
Forms: 1–2 fisc, 3 Orm. fissk, 3–4 fis(s(e, fix, (4 fizs), south. viss, vyss, 3–5 fich, 5–6 fych(e, 3–5 fissh(e, (3 fishsh, fischsch), 4–6 fysch(e, -ssh(e, (6 fiszsh), 5–6 fysh(e, 4–6 fishe, 3– fish.
[Com. Teut.; OE. fisc. str. masc. = OFris. fisk, OS. fisc (Du. visch), OHG. fisc (MHG. visch, Ger. fisch), ON. fiskr (Sw. and Da. fisk), Goth. fisks:—OTeut. *fisko-z:—pre-Teut. *pisko-s, cogn. with L. piscis and OIr. iasc (:—*peiskos).]
I.
1. a. In popular language, any animal living exclusively in the water; primarily denoting vertebrate animals provided with fins and destitute of limbs; but extended to include various cetaceans, crustaceans, molluscs, etc. In modern scientific language (to which popular usage now tends to approximate) restricted to a class of vertebrate animals, provided with gills throughout life, and cold-blooded; the limbs, if present, are modified into fins, and supplemented by unpaired median fins.
Except in the compound shell-fish, the word is no longer commonly applied in educated use to invertebrate animals.
c825Vesp. Psalter viii. 9 Fuglas heofenes & fiscas saes. c1175Lamb. Hom. 129 Alle þe fiscas þe swummen in þere se. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 177 Fishshes and fugeles. c1250Gen. & Ex. 160 God made..ilc fuel and euerilc fis. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 10/302 A fair ȝwater with grete fischsches. c1386Chaucer Prol. 180 A Monk, whan he is recchelees, Is likned til a fissh þat is waterlees. 1485Caxton Chas. Gt. 205 Fysshes alle blacke. 1535Coverdale 1 Kings iv. 33 He talked..of foules, of wormes, of fiszshes. 1653Walton Angler 179 He [the Pearch] is one of the fishes of prey. 1695Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth iii. i. (1723) 153 Whales..and other great Fishes. 1719W. Wood Surv. Trade 334 Shells of Fishes, known by the Name of Cowries. 1726Gay Fables i. iv. 37 The Fishes..skim beneath the main. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. IV. 3 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. 1842H. Miller O.R. Sandst. iii. (ed. 2) 68 Fishes seem to have been the master existences of five succeeding formations, ere the age of reptiles began.
b. collect. sing. used for pl.
a1300Cursor M. 9395 (Cott.), Foghul and fiche, grett thing and small. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xiii. 57 Criste..filled þaire nettes full of fisch. 1486Bk. St. Albans F vij a, A scoll of ffysh. 1556Chron. Gr. Friars (1852) 48 Herrynge and other fyche that was tane on the see. 1563Myrr. Mag., Somerset xxiii, For the fyshe casting forth his net. 1611Bible Num. xi. 22 Shal all the fish of the sea bee gathered together for them? 1667Milton P.L. vii. 401 Fish..with thir Finns and shining Scales Glide under the green Wave. 1715–20Pope Iliad xxi. 136 Let the Fish surround Thy bloated Corse. 1780Cowper Let. to Mrs. Newton 2 June, When I write to you, you answer me in fish. I return you many thanks for the mackerel and lobster. 1802–3tr. Pallas' Trav. (1812) II. 132 Such port is frequented by fish of passage. 1808Forsyth Beauties Scotl. v. 384 Herrings..mackerel, cod-fish, whitings, hadocks, and some others, may with propriety be called fish of passage.
c. phr. a nice or pretty kettle of fish (colloq.): an awkward state of things, a ‘muddle’. to be or feel like a fish out of water: to be or feel out of one's element. drunk (dull, mute) as a fish: very drunk (etc.). to drink like a fish: to drink excessively. to feed the fishes: (a) to meet one's death by drowning; (b) to be sea-sick. all is fish that comes to or † in (his) net: i.e. nothing comes amiss to him, he turns everything to account.
1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccccxvi. 727 Suche as came after toke all..for all was fysshe that came to net. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage vi. xii. 636 The Arabians out of the desarts are as Fishes out of the Water. c1620Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 48 All's fish that comes in net. 1654Gataker Disc. Apol. 7 He is as mute as a fish. 1700Congreve Way of World iv. ix, Thou art both as drunk and as mute as a fish. 1744Gray Let. 26 Apr. in Wks. (1807) II. 35 Mr. Trollope and I are in a course of Tar-water;..I drink like a Fish. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Ggg ij, To cruise as a pirate; to make all fish that comes to the net. 1821J. G. Lockhart Let. 13 July, He..drinks like a fish. 1840Marryat Poor Jack xi, You're as mute as a fish. 1837Hood Drinking Song xi, He's the..drinker that verily ‘drinks like a fish!’ 1865J. G. Bertram Harvest of Sea (1873) 228 Being a commission agent, it is all fish that comes to my net. 1870H. Meade Ride N. Zealand 313 His first act was to appease the fishes..by feeding them most liberally. 1879[see drink v.1 11 a]. 1886Baring Gould Court Royal vi, The lawyer..was as a fish out of water here. 1889Bridges Feast of Bacchus iv, And there you stand, As dull as a fish! 1937A. J. Cronin Citadel i. ii. 19, I better anticipate the gay tidings—I drink like a fish.
d. In other proverbial expressions.
1546J. Heywood Prov. (1562) D ij b, Fishe is caste awaie that is cast in drie pooles. a1625Fletcher Mons. Thomas i. iii, No swearing; He'll catch no fish else. 1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. i. 117/2 The Prouerbe sayes, If you sweare you shall catch no fish. 1710Brit. Apollo III. No. 29 3/2 'Tis good Fish, if it were but Caught. 1857Trollope Three Clerks xvi, There were still as good fish in the sea as had ever yet been caught out of it.
†e. in the quasi-oath God's fish! (more commonly odds-fish).
c1728Earl of Ailesbury Mem. 649 Gods fish! when two rogues fall out, their master then is like to know the truth.
f. Applied to the turtle.
1898Westm. Gaz. 9 Nov. 3/1 The sea round about the West Indies is the happiest hunting-ground for green turtle. The fish (the dealers describe them as fish) are usually taken in the manner described. 1908Daily Chron. 6 Nov. 7/3 The ‘fish’, as they are called in the trade, are probably as tenacious of life as any animal.
g. U.S. slang. A dollar.
1920Collier's 5 June 44/4, I..shoved my way Through the howlin' mob on the en route to the box office To collect our four hundred fish. 1934Wodehouse Thank you, Jeeves xii. 168 She was heiress to a sum amounting to more than fifty million fish. 1949N. Algren Man with Golden Arm 11 Used to get fifteen fish for an exhibition of six-no-count.
h. Naut. slang. (In full tin fish.) A torpedo; also, a submarine.
1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 282 A tin fish, a torpedo. 1928Papers Mich. Acad. Sci. & Arts X. 293 Fish, torpedo;..submarine. 1943Penguin New Writing XVI. 19 The air seemed full of falling bombs, and tinfish like carelessly dropped cigarettes splashed among the crowded ships. 1946R. Harling Steep Atlantick Stream ii. 29 They do say the old QM's had a tin-fish under her tail. 1967B. Knox Blacklight i. 16 The Navy didn't like losing a torpedo... Each ‘fish’ represented some {pstlg}3,000 in cash.
2. In combination with various qualifying words, as lantern-, lump-, monk-, pipe-, rock-, toad-, whistle-, wolf-: see those words. blubber-fish, fish yielding blubber, as the whale, porpoise, etc. royal-fish, also fish-royal (see quots.). Also angel-, flat-, flying-, gold-, jelly-, shell-, sun-, sword-fish.
1756R. Rolt Dict. Trade & Comm., Royal fish, are dolphins and sturgeans; as also in France, are salmon and trout; so called, because they belong to the King, when cast upon the sea-shore..Blubber-fish are whales, porpoises, tunnies, sea-calves, and other fat fish.
1776Customs Manor of Epworth in Stonehouse Axholme (1839) 145 When any *fish royal be taken in the river of Trent, within this Manor..it belongs to the Lord of the Manor. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Royal Fish, whale and sturgeon.
3. a. Applied fig. to a person (also collect. to persons) whom it is desirable to ‘catch’ or ‘hook’.
1722De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 116 The subtle devil..found us proper fish for her hook. 1753Foote Eng. in Paris ii. Wks. 1799 I. 42 The fish [a rich young booby] is hook'd. 1885Boy's Own Paper 5 Sept. 771/1 People would think he was an easy fish to catch.
b. Used (with prefixed adj.) unceremoniously for ‘person’.
1750Coventry Pompey Litt. ii. ix. (1785) 67/2 They..smoaked him for a queer fish, as the phrase is. 1771Franklin Autobiog. Wks. 1887 I. 137 He was an odd fish. 1820Lamb Elia, South-Sea-House, Humourists, for they were of all descriptions..Odd fishes. 1831Examiner 395/2 The lady, who was a ‘loose fish,’ became acquainted with him. 1857Hughes Tom Brown i. (1882) 19/2 The queerest, coolest fish in Rugby. 1871J. H. Banka State Prison Life iv. 60 ‘Fresh fish’ is the name applied to all newcomers. 1920F. Scott Fitzgerald This Side of Paradise i. i. 36 I'm tired of being nice to every poor fish in school. 1930A. Christie Murder at Vicarage x. 79 Well—of all the poor fish! If I'd committed a murder, I wouldn't go straight off and give myself up. 1958Listener 9 Oct. 568/1 The old man is revealed as having been a very cold fish.
4. a. The flesh of fish, esp. as used for food; opposed to flesh, i.e. the flesh of land-animals, and fowl, that of birds.
a1300Cursor M. 13502 (Gött.) Þis bred and fisse was delt abute. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 159 Hij eteþ more fisch þan flesh. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiii. xxvi. (1495) 461 Female fysshes ben more longe than male fysshes and haue more harde fysshe. c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 60 Salt fisch. c1460Lydg. & Burgh Secrees 1653 In etyng of ffyssh make no contynuaunces. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 232 Ships..furnished with Bisket..freshe Water, salt Fishe. 1650Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. (ed. 2) iii. xxv. 143 We mortifie ourselves with the diet of fish. 1756R. Rolt Dict. Trade & Comm., Green Fish is that which is just salted, and yet moist. 1768Travis in Pennant Zool. (1777) IV. 12 The fish of a Lobster's claw is more tender, delicate, and easy of digestion than that of the tail. 1813Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. (1814) 288 Fish forms a powerful manure.
b. Meat having the qualities of fish.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 444 The taile of a Beaver is fish, but the taile of an Otter is flesh.
c. phr. neither fish nor flesh (nor good red herring), also neither fish, flesh, nor fowl: i.e. neither one thing nor another; without the particular qualities (or merits) of either. to have other fish to fry: to have other business to attend to. to make fish of one and flesh (or fowl) of another: to make an invidious distinction; to show partiality. to cry stinking fish: see cry v. 5 b.
1528Rede me & be nott wrothe I iij b, Wone that is nether flesshe nor fisshe. 1546J. Heywood Prov. (1562) C ij b, She is nother fyshe nor fleshe, nor good red hearyng. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. iii. 144. 1600 Holland Livy xxiv. xlv. (1609) 540 He had the party himselfe in jelousie and suspition, as one neither fish nor flesh, a man of no credit. 1660Evelyn Mem. (1857) III. 132, I fear he hath other fish to fry. 1682Dryden Duke of Guise Epilogue 40 Damned neuters, in their middle way of steering, Are neither fish nor flesh nor good red-herring. 1721J. Kelly Sc. Prov. 220, I will not make Fish of one, and Flesh of another. 1885Manch. Exam. 21 May 5/2 This is making fish of one and fowl of another with a vengeance. 1889Mrs. Oliphant Poor Gent. xliv, ‘I've got other things in hand..I've got other fish to fry’.
5. Astron.
a. the Fish or Fishes (L. Pisces), a zodiacal constellation, situated between Aquarius and Aries.
b. the Southern († South) Fish (L. Piscis australis, anciently Piscis notius major), a southern constellation, bounded on the north by Capricorn and Aquarius.
c1386Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 265 Now dauncen lusty Venus children dere, For in the fyssh her lady sat ful hye. 1551Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 267 Laste of the 12 signes commeth the Fyshes. Ibid. 271 The Southe fyshe, containynge 12 starres.
II. attrib. and Comb.
6. General relations:
a. simple attrib. (sense 1), as fish-bone, fish-bowl, fish-egg, fish-guts, fish-haunt, fish-shell, fish-skin, fish-spawn; (sense 4), as fish-dinner, fish-meal, fish tea.
1530Palsgr. 220/2 *Fysshebonne, areste. a1653Gouge Comm. Heb. xiii. 1 Fish-bones..in the dark make a bright lustre. 1772–84Cook Voy. (1790) I. 228 The points of these lances are sometimes made of fish-bone.
1906S. W. Bushell Chinese Art II. viii. 32 A large garden *fish-bowl..is decorated in the usual style with enamel colours. 1964Listener 23 Apr. 682/1 The Chinese made their fishbowls out of porcelain.
1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Introd., Before the eating of a *fish-dinner, the body is not to be heated with exercise. a1680Evelyn Diary c Feb. an. 1646 (1955) II. 474 The famous Anna Rencha, whom we invited to a Fishdinner, after 4 daies in Lent.
1865J. G. Bertram Harvest Sea (1873) 66 The collection and distribution of *fish-eggs.
1768Travis in Pennant Zool. (1777) IV. 12 The bait is commonly *fish-guts tied to the bottom and middle of the net.
1833J. Rennie Alph. Angling 50 The angler..must find these *fish-haunts.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iii. 99 Making many *Fish-meales, they fall into a kind of Male Greene-sicknesse.
1601Holland Pliny II. 307 The said hairs burnt in some earthen pan or *fish-shell.
1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 366 They are impregnated in the manner of *fish-spawn.
1930Daily Express 16 Aug. 8/7 If there is any Guards officer who is forced to indulge in *fish teas, [etc.].
b. connected with the catching or selling of fish, as fish-bag, fish-bait, fish-bar, fish-basket, fish-boat, fish-boy, fish-craft, fish-creel, fish-frail, fish-line, fish-market, fish-net, † fish-officer, fish-salesman, † fish-shambles, † fish-ship, fish-shop, fish-spear, fish-stall, fish-street, fish-trap, fish-van, fish-wagon, fish-woman.
1815Sporting Mag. XLVI. 11 If my *fish-bag should fall in the way of such a man.
1870‘F. Fern’ Ginger-Snaps 275 Won't the laundress rub the skin off her knuckles when she tries to get the *fish-bait off your ruffled skirt.
1887Mod. London 195/1 A *fish bar where those tempting little fish luncheons popularly denominated ‘snacks’ may be had at all hours.
1838Dickens O. Twist xxi, Women with *fish-baskets on their heads.
1663Spalding Troub. Chas. I (1829) 82 Eighteen gentlemen..passing the water of Findhorn in a *fish-boat, were pitifully drowned. 1919J. Masefield Reynard 117 Like a fish-boat beached.
1853Reade Chr. Johnstone xiii. 217 The *fish-boys struck up a dismal chant of victory.
1480Caxton Descr. Brit. 12 Seuarn is swyft of streme, *fishecraft is therin. 1866Game Laws Conn. in Fur, Fin & Feather (1872) 34 Shall forfeit the value of the seine and fish-craft used for said purpose.
1953Dylan Thomas Under Milk Wood (1954) 33 In you reeled, my boy, as drunk as a deacon with..a *fish-frail full of stout.
1639in Archives Maryland IV. 79, 2. *fish lines. 1864J. T. Trowbridge Cudjo's Cave xliii. 451 Arms and head hung down, causing him to resemble..a frog hooked on for bait at the end of a fish-line. 1913J. London Valley of Moon iii. i, Hall had sent out fish-lines and a swimming suit.
1552Huloet, *Fishe market and fishe streate. 1863M. E. Braddon Eleanor's Vict. i, The slimy and slippery fish market.
a1000Boeth. Metr. xix. 21 Hwy ᵹe nu ne settan on sume dune *fisc net eowru. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 175 Werpinde ut here fishnet in þe se. 1955E. Pound Classic Anthol. i. 20 Goose to get in a fish-net set!
1472Presentmts. of Juries in Surtees Misc. (1890) 23 Þt þy sell noy feche wt owt yt be abyld be *fyche offesers.
1868Peard Water-Farm. xv. 154 An eminent *fish-salesman.
1601Holland Pliny I. 243 The Maquerels..furnish the *fish shambles.
1676Lond. Gaz. No. 1144/1 Several English *Fish Ships are arrived.
1827Hone Every-day Bk. II. 58 Pedestrians..turn in to sup at the *fish-shops.
1611Bible Job xli. 7 Canst thou fill..his head with *fish-speares? 1837R. M. Bird Nick of Woods II. xi. 144 Upon this pillar..were laid or suspended sundry Indian utensils of the kitchen and the field,..wooden bowls..fish spears [etc.]. 1908E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber i. iv. 150 To enjoy it to perfection, extricate the creature from his lurking place far down in the blue crevice of the coral, with a fish-spear.
1818Sporting Mag. II. 100 Well pleas'd with the bargain, she left the *fish-stall.
1837W. Irving Capt. Bonneville III. 44 Trout and other fish, which they catch..in ‘*fish traps’.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Fish-van, a light spring-cart for transporting fish; a railway truck set apart for fish.
1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. i. 11 The *fish waggon comes by.
1698J. Crull Muscovy 141 You may hear them..Abuse one another like *Fish-Women. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 170 In those private letters..the Princess expressed the sentiments of a fury in the style of a fish-woman.
c. in the names of dishes, etc., composed of fish, as fish-ball, † fish-broo, fish-broth, fish-cake, fish-chowder, † fish-pickle, fish-pie, fish-pudding, fish-soup, fish-stock.
1854B. P. Shillaber Mrs. Partington 100 The breakfast was waiting for him, the *fishballs were getting cold. 1872E. A. Hart Runaway iii. 67 The viands that it might be possible to carry out to Olga. Soup?.. Fish⁓balls? 1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 316 Fish Balls, with Brown Sauce.
14..Nominale in Wr.-Wülcker 740 Garus, a *fysc⁓browe.
1660Howell Lex. Tetrag., *Fish-broth, or fish-pickle, murette de poisson.
1854Harper's Mag. May 802/1 The favorite comestible was the piroga, a very unctuous kind of *fish⁓cake. 1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 316 Fishcakes in Curry.
1838E. C. Wines Trip to Boston 79 We had ‘clam chowder’ and ‘*fish chowder’. 1897Kipling Capt. Cour. 84 Harvey stuffed himself to the brim on fish-chowder and fried pies.
1725Bradley Fam. Dict., *Fish Pie, a Dish usually serv'd upon Days of Abstinence.
1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 316 *Fish Pudding, in tins.
1723J. Nott Cook's & Confect. Dict. No. 136 B, Strain it through a Sieve..and use it to simmer *Fish-soops. 1886Sat. Rev. 6 Mar. 328/1 Fish soup is made out of the ‘trimmings’ of fish.
1787J. Farley Lond. Art of Cookery (ed. 4) 166 Take what quantity may be wanted of *fish⁓stock. 1883A. Thomas Mod. Housewife 51 The receipt for a fish-stock which is as strengthening and succulent as can well be desired.
d. objective, as fish-breeder, fish-cadger, fish-catcher, fish-curer, fish-frier, fish-hawker, fish-seller; fish-breeding, fish-packing, vbl. ns.; fish-eating, fish-producing, fish-selling, ppl. adjs.
1860Rep. U.S. Comm. Patents: Agric. 1859 232 Practical hints to *fish breeders. 1883E. R. Lankester Adv. Science (1890) 214 So far as it affects the procedure of fish-catchers, fish-breeders, or fish-culturists.
1860Rep. U.S. Comm. Patents: Agric. 1859 232 The best methods of securing success in artificial *fish breeding.
1889Barrie Window in Thrums 189 Hendry had been to the *fish-cadger in the square.
1530Palsgr. 220/2 *Fysse catcher, peschevr.
1847–8H. Miller First Impr. x. (1857) 166, I have seen a *fish-curer's vat throwing down its salt when surcharged with the mineral.
1835–6Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 323/1 The *fish-eating Osprey.
1892Encycl. Cookery I. 660/1 Larger fish require a vessel called a *fish-fryer, which is fitted with a perforated or wire strainer. 1893Daily News 14 Apr. 6/6 The wife of a fish-frier.
1866Cornh. Mag. May 616 *Fish-hawkers wrangle and organ-grinders count their ill-gotten coppers.
1890Westm. Gaz. 30 Sept. 3/1 The *fish-producing lakes and rivers.
c1440Promp. Parv. 163/1 *Fysch sellare, piscarius.
1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) I. 475 *Fish-selling rhetoricians.
e. similative, as † fish-drunk, fish-eyed, fish-faced, fish-haunted, fish-like, fish-shaped, adjs.
1591Percivall Sp. Dict., Embarbascar, to make *fishe drunke.
1937L. C. Douglas Forgive our Trespasses x. 199 Its *fish-eyed challenge that dared any man to speed its heart. a1940W. J. Turner Sea Music in P. M. Jones Mod. Verse (1940) 138 Thro' the fish-eyed meadows Flows the herd-pasturing ocean.
1963Wodehouse Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves xviii. 143 He's no worse than that *fishfaced blighter.
1887Morris tr. Homer's Odyssey x. 458, I myself, I know, How on the sea *fish-haunted ye bore a weight of woe. 1952C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil's Aeneid xi. 248 The fish-haunted river Padusa.
1610Shakes. Temp. ii. ii 27 A very ancient and *fish-like smell. 1835–6Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 93/2 The elongated fish-like form of those amphibia. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge (1849) 3/2 Dull fish-like eyes.
1878H. H. Gibbs Ombre 8 The counters should be long or *fish-shaped.
f. instrumental and originative, as fish-derived, fish-fed, fish-feeding, adjs.
1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. p. xxxvi, *Fish-derived products.
1614Sylvester Bethulian's Rescue v. 297 *Fish⁓fed Carmanians.
1835–6Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 280/1 The *fish-feeding Grallæ.
g. appositive, as fish-god, fish-goddess.
1856Stanley Sinai & Pal. v. (1856) 256 Dagon the *Fish-god.
Ibid., Derceto, the *Fish-goddess.
7. Special comb.: fish and chips, a dish consisting of fried fish and fried chipped potatoes; also ellipt. for a shop at which this dish may be bought ready-cooked; also attrib., esp. in form fish-and-chip; fish-backed a., shaped like a fish's back, swelling upwards; † fish-basil (see quot.); fish-basket, (a) a basket used for carrying fish (see 6 b); (b) U.S., a creel for catching fish; fish-bed, a deposit containing the fossil remains of fishes; fish-bellied a., shaped like a fish's belly, ‘curved underneath, the depth of curve increasing towards the centre’ (Lockwood); fish belly, (a) see quot. 1878; (b) attrib., = fish-bellied, adj.; (c) used attrib. of a degree of whiteness; fish-berry, a name for Cocculus indicus, the fruit of Anamirta cocculus, used for stupefying fish; fish-blooded a., cold-blooded; fishbone-stitch (see quot. 1957); fish-bone-thistle = fish-thistles; fish-bone-tree, ‘the Panax crassifolium, a small araliaceous tree of New Zealand’ (Cent. Dict.); fish-brine, a fish-sauce; fish-broth (see 6 c), humorously, salt-water; fish-car, a box in which fish are carried alive in the water; fish-carle Sc., a fisherman (Jam.); fish-carrier, (a) a vessel used to transport the ‘catch’ from the fishing-boats to the shore; (b) a contrivance for keeping fish alive whilst transporting them from place to place; fish-carver, a carving knife for fish; pl. a carving knife and fork for fish; † fish-climber, ? = fish-berry; fish-coop, (a) = fish-pot; (b) ‘a box about three feet square used in fishing through ice’ (Cent. Dict.); fish-crow (U.S.), a crow (Corvus ossifragus) that feeds mainly on fish; fish-culture, the artificial breeding of fish, pisciculture; hence fish-cultural a., of, pertaining to, or concerned in fish-culture, piscicultural; fish-culturist, one engaged in fish-culture, a fish-breeder, a pisciculturist; fish dive (see quot. 1952); fish-eagle, an eagle that preys upon fish; † fish-ear (see quot.); fish-eater, (a) one who lives chiefly upon fish; (b) chiefly pl. a knife and fork to eat fish with; fish-eye, (a) (also fish's eye) a variety of moonstone; a diamond or imitation diamond; (b) (see quot. 1958); (c) used attrib. or as adj. of a wide-angle lens with a curved front resembling a fish's eye; also ellipt.; fish-eye-stone Min., obs. synonym of apophyllite; fish-face, a term of abuse; fish-fag, a female hawker of fish, a fishwife; fish-farm, a place where fish-culture is carried on; hence fish-farmer, fish-farming; † fish-fast, the observance of fish-days (see fish-day); fish-finder, a device for locating fish; fish finger, a small finger-shaped or rectangular section of fish coated in batter or breadcrumbs; fish-flake (U.S.), a frame upon which fish is laid to dry; fish-flour, (a) = fish-meal; (b) ‘a dry inodorous fertilizer made from fishes, used for manure’ (Cent. Dict.); fish-fly U.S., any of various small insects belonging to the order Megaloptera and family Corydalidæ, especially those included in the genus Chauliodes; fish food, (a) = fish n.1 4; (b) the food eaten by fishes; fish-fry, (a) U.S., a picnic where fish is fried and eaten; (b) = fry n.1 3; fish-gaff, a pole with an iron hook at the end by means of which heavy fish are secured when caught with a line; fish geranium U.S., a garden variety of geranium, Pelargonium hortorum; fish-globe, a spherical glass vessel in which fish are kept; fish-glue, glue obtained from the bladders and sounds of fish, isinglass; fish-gorge, a primitive implement for catching fish, consisting of something (e.g. a stone) fastened by a string for the fish to swallow; fish guano = fish-manure; fish-hack, a name of the Gobius niger (Adm. Smyth); fish-hatchery, a place for the rearing of fish by artificial means; so fish-hatching vbl. n.; fish-hawk, the osprey, or bald-buzzard (Pandion haliaëtus); fish-horn, a tin horn used on fishing-boats or by sellers of fish; fish-house, † (a) a place where fish are kept; (b) a place where fish is sold; fish insect = silver-fish 2; fish-kettle, a long oval vessel for boiling fish; fish-knife, a broad knife, usually of silver, for cutting and serving fish at table; also, a knife for eating fish with; fish-ladder, a series of steps to enable fish to ascend a fall or dam by a succession of leaps; fish-leaves, the pondweed Potamogeton natans, the flat leaves of which were formerly supposed to give shelter to fish; † fish-leep, a fish-basket; fish-liquor, the liquid in which a fish has been boiled; fish-liver-oil, a term applied to the oil obtained from other fish than the cod (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1884); fish-lock = fish-weir; fish-louse, a general name for crustaceans parasitic on fishes; fish-man, † (a) one who makes a meal of fish; (b) a fish hawker; (c) a fisherman; (d) a student of ichthyology; fish-manure, a manure or fertilizer composed of fish; † fish-mariner, the sail-fish; fish-maw, the sound or air-bladder of a fish; fish-meal, dried fish ground to a meal; fish-meter (see quot.); † fish-mint, water-mint; fish-moth = silver-fish 2; fish-net, used attrib. of an open-meshed fabric or garment; fish-oil, oil obtained from fishes and marine animals, spec. cod-liver oil and whale oil; fish-owl, an eared fishing owl, of the genus Ketupa, with rough feet; fish paper, (a) paper on which cooked fish is laid; (b) (see quot. 1924); fish-pass = fish-way; fish paste = paste n. 1 d; fish-pearl, an artificial pearl (see quot.); fish-plate, the perforated draining plate of a fish-kettle; fish-poison, a name given to various plants which have an intoxicating effect upon fish, causing them to float helplessly on the surface of the water; fish pole U.S., a pole used as a fishing-rod; fish-pomace, the refuse of fish after the oil has been expressed, used as a fertilizer; fish-pot, a wicker basket for catching fish, esp. eels, also crabs, lobsters, etc.; fish-potter, one who uses or has charge of fish-pots; † fish-range, a place for catching and drying fish; fish-room (see quots.); fish-sauce, sauce made to be eaten with fish; fish sausage, a sausage made with fish; fish-scrap, fish refuse, used as a fertilizer; fish-slice, a fish-carving knife; also, an implement used by cooks for turning fish in the pan; fish-slide, ‘a fish-trap for shallow rivers and low waterfalls: used in the southern United States’ (Cent. Dict.); fish-sound, the swimming bladder of a fish; † fish-stew = fish-pond: see stew; fish stick, (a) (see quot. 1875); (b) N. Amer. = fish finger; † fish-stone, ? a stone table for the sale of fish; fish-story, an incredible tale or ‘yarn’; † fish-stove = fish-stew; fish-strainer, (a) ‘a metal cullender with handles for taking fish from a boiler; (b) an earthenware slab with holes, placed at the bottom of a dish to drain the water from cooked fish’ (Simmonds); fish supper, a supper meal with fish as the main course; spec. (esp. Sc.), a meal of fish and chips bought from a take-away restaurant; fish tank, a tank to hold live (esp. ornamental) fish, an aquarium; fish-thistles, the Chamæpeuce casabonæ (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1884); fish-tiger, a bird that preys upon fish; fish-tongue, ‘an instrument sometimes used for the removal of the wisdom-teeth: so named from its shape’ (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1884); fish-torpedo, a torpedo resembling a fish in shape and with an automatic swimming action; fish-trowel, a fish-carver in the shape of a trowel; fish-warden (U.S.), ‘an officer who has jurisdiction over the fisheries of any particular locality’ (Cent. Dict.); fish-way, an arrangement for enabling fish to ascend a fall or dam; fish-weir, † (a) a draught of fishes; (b) = fish-garth; fish-wood, (a) (see quot.); (b) ‘the strawberry bush, Euonymus americanus’ (Cent. Dict.); fish-worker, ‘a fishculturist’ (Cent. Dict.); fish-working, ‘fish-culture’ (Cent. Dict.); fish-works, (a) ‘the appliances and contrivances used in fish-culture; (b) a place where the products of the fisheries are utilized; a fish-factory’ (Cent. Dict.); fish-worm U.S. = earthworm 1; cf. worm 8 b; † fish-yard = fish-garth. Also fish-day, -gig, -hook, -monger, -pond, -pool, -skin, -tail, -whole, -wife.
1876in Listener (1965) 3 June 826/3 *Fish and chip shops were a considerable source of nuisance. 1913Rowntree & Kendall How Labourer Lives iii. 169 Fish and chips..3[d.]. 1928D. L. Sayers Unpleasantness at Bellona Club x. 122 We'll go and see ‘George Barnwell’ at the Elephant and have a fish-and-chips supper afterwards. 1940Economist 26 Oct. 517/2 The fish and chips sellers have been blessed by the Ministry of Food. 1948J. Betjeman Coll. Poems (1958) 219 Ask at the fish and chips in the Market Square. 1961E. A. Powdrill Vocab. Land Planning iii. 44 A study of social rank will normally involve an examination of population,..poverty shops (fish and chips, secondhand dealers, pawnbrokers, etc.). 1970Which? Mar. 68/2 If it is classified as a dwelling house, you can't use it as a fish and chip shop without first getting planning permission.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 644 *Fish-backed rail.
1597Gerarde Herbal ii. ccxiii. 549 L'Obelius..calleth it [another wilde Basill] Corcoros, which we have Englished *Fish Basill.
1814H. M. Brackenridge Views Louisiana 179 They unite, and thus form a semicircle like a *fish basket. 1844S. S. Haldeman in Schele de Vere Americanisms (1872) 351 Various species are abundantly caught..in fish-baskets, made of lath⁓work, with diverging walls of stone. 1867Game Laws Penn. in Fur, Fin & Feather (1872) 100 It shall not be lawful to take, catch, or kill..any fish, by means of any fish-basket. 1955E. Pound Classic Anthol. i. 16 So come not near my dam and weir, Let my fish-basket be.
1869Rep. Comm. Agric. 1868 (U.S.) 75 Bones of marine animals are so abundant as to have induced Professor L. Agassiz, twenty years ago, to call it the ‘*fish bed’ of the Charleston Basin.
1834Edin. Rev. LX. 118 *Fish-bellied instead of parallel rails. 1862Smiles Engineers III. 282 The line was..laid with fish-bellied rails.
1878W. Dickinson Cumbld. Gloss. 33/1 *Fish belly, the Cnicus heterophyllus plant. The underside of the leaf is white, and turns up in the wind. 1884‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn 31 A tree-toad white, a fish-belly white. 1888Greenwell Gloss. Coal-trade terms (ed. 3) 38 Malleable iron rails of the fish-belly pattern. 1927A. Conan Doyle Case Bk. S. Holmes 63 Fish-belly whiteness.
1898Westm. Gaz. 14 Jan. 3/1 Not that the historian is *fish-blooded and without predisposition. 1923Daily Mail 27 Feb. 8 The Ministerial policy of fish-blooded neutrality.
1932D. C. Minter Mod. Needlecraft 182/2 Note *fish-bone stitch on frayed edges. 1957M. B. Picken Fashion Dict. 131/1 Fishbone-stitch, series of diagonal single-purl stitches zigzagged across an unmarked line.
1882Garden 1 Apr. 220/1 Chamæpeuce (*Fish-bone Thistle).
c1000ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 128 Liquamen, uel garum, *fiscbryne. 1820W. Tooke tr. Lucian I. 553 From inadvertence pour the fish-brine into their lentil-soup.
1599Nashe Lenten Stuffe 44 The churlish frampold waues gaue him his belly-full of *fish-broath.
1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 199 Model of *fish-car towed by the smack for keeping the catch alive.
1804W. Tarras Elegy on Sautie 11 Poems 143 Ye *fish-carles never lift an oar, In codlin greed.
1886Pall Mall G. 29 June 4/1, I went out to the fleets on board a steam *fish-carrier. 1888Ibid. 27 Dec. 2/2 Among Mr. Burgess's other notions, however, one took the form of a fish carrier. The carrier he has invented is made of zinc.
1855E. Acton Mod. Cookery (rev. ed.) p. xxxvii, (caption) *Fish Carvers.
1697W. Dampier Voy. (1729) III. i. 447 *Fish-Climer has a welted Stalk..its Beans are red, with a black Kernel: these being bruised and cast into Rivers intoxicate the Fish.
1803S. Pegge Anecd. Eng. Lang. 277 A *fish-coop..for taking fish in the Humber, made of twigs, such as are called eel pots in the south.
1812A. Wilson Amer. Ornith. V. 27 *Fish-crow: Corvus ossifragus. 1870Amer. Naturalist III. 287 The Fish-crows..are running over the wet sands. 1883Century Mag. Sept. 682/2 The fish-crow fishes only when it has destroyed all the eggs and young birds it can find.
1865J. G. Bertram Harvest of Sea (1873) 61 The art of *fish-culture is almost as old as civilization itself.
1872(title), Transactions of the American *Fish Cultural Association.
1874Amer. Cycl. III. 219 This method has been extensively adopted by American *fish culturists.
1943K. Ambrose Ballet-Lover's Pocket Bk. iii. 40 A lift from the climax of the Aurora pas de deux; known to dancers as the ‘*fish dive’. 1952Kersley & Sinclair Dict. Ballet Terms 78 Poisson, a position of the body in which the dancer arches her back, lifts her head, and bends back her legs with the feet crossed. This pose may be sustained while jumping..or in double work when the girl is supported in this position and the term pas poisson or fish dive is used. 1959Times 26 Jan. 6/5 Her dancing betrayed signs of unsteadiness only in the exacting ‘fish-dives’ in the final pas-de-deux.
1678Ray Willughby's Ornith. ii. 59 A Fisher⁓man of Strasburgh..sets forth the Bald Buzzard under the title of *Fish-Eagle. 1890H. M. Stanley in Pall Mall G. 28 June 2/2 Fish eagles.
1748Phil. Trans. XLV. 233 The other [order of Fishes] is furnish'd with Organs analogous to Lungs, which we call *Fish-Ears, or Gills.
1741Chambers Cycl., Ichthyophagi, *Fish-eaters. 1849Southey Comm-pl. Bk. Ser. 11, Babylonian Fish-eaters. 1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 78 Fish Eaters, Fish Carvers.
1882E. W. Streeter Prec. Stones (ed. 3) 96 The ‘*Fish's Eye’ becomes red by transmitted light, undergoing the same changes as a bead of Schmetze paste. 1914Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 33 Fish eye,..a diamond. 1916F. B. Wade Diamonds vi. 139 The stone that is too thin will have a ring of brilliancy around a black and empty centre producing the so-called ‘fish eye’ effect. 1942Metal Progress XLII. 201 (heading) Fish-eyes in steel welds caused by hydrogen. Ibid. 203/2 ‘Coarsely crystalline fracture’ surrounded by normal fibrous metal in tensile and impact specimens showing ‘flakes’, ‘snowflakes’, ‘fish-eyes’, and such variously named seats of hydrogen embrittlement..can be immediately recognized by that outstanding characteristic whereby the affected zones stand out brilliantly against the darker fibrous background. 1958A. D. Merriman Dict. Metallurgy 94/11 Fish eyes, a term used in reference to micro⁓fissures occurring in steel. 1961R. Schreyer et al. Dict. Photogr. 192/2 Fish-eye lens. 1969Amat. Photogr. 28 May 73/1 The range of lenses is immense. The widest angle is given by fish-eye types which reduce the image scale at the edges more than in the centre. 1971Pop. Photogr. Aug. 60 (Advt.), A fisheye conversion lens. Ibid. 90/1 The fisheye could be used to obtain an even broader coverage.
1805R. Jameson Char. Min. II. 601 Ichthyophthalmite or *Fish-eye-stone.
a1625Fletcher Hum. Lieutenant i. i, Whether would you, *fish face? 1914C. Mackenzie Sinister St. II. iii. ix. 687 O, shut up, fish-face.
1786Wolcott (P. Pindar) Bozzy & Piozzi 21 With vulgar *fish-fags to be forc'd to chat. 1860Times 8 Mar. 8/4 We rail away at one another..with the impotence of fish-fags.
1865J. G. Bertram Harvest of Sea (1873) 238 *Fish-farms for the cultivation of the oyster alone.
1876All Year Round 29 Apr. 162/1 Broad-leaved aquatic plants are a real blessing to the *fish farmer.
1869Rep. Comm. Agric. 1868 (U.S.) 330 Area for *fish-farming. 1969Guardian 20 Nov. 7/3 Flat fish..spawn only once a year, a productivity level unacceptable to those interested in fish farming.
1554T. Sampson in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. xviii. 49 *Fish-fasts, vows, pilgrimages.
1961New Scientist 9 Nov. 362/1 In ordinary trawling the *fish-finder apparatus has its transducer set in the hull of the ship. 1962Ibid. 2 Aug. 251/1 An ingenious use of a small magnetic memory drum is made in a new type of fish-finder for trawlers.
1962Listener 22 Mar. 510/1 Cornflakes and frozen *fish-fingers, oven-ready chickens, and wrapped, sliced bread. 1970Which? Apr. 105/1 Fish fingers are white fish fillets, coated with crumbs. Ibid. 106/1 All the fish fingers are a valuable source of protein. Three fish fingers will give an 8-year-old child a fifth of his or her daily protein requirement.
1837–40Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 195 A sort o' *fish flakes. 1865Thoreau Cape Cod x. 197 The houses here were surrounded by fish-flakes, close up to the sills.
1880G. B. Goode Menhaden 141 (Cent. Dict.) Biscuits made from *fish-flour..were in good condition after having been kept for ten years in an unsealed jar. 1956Nature 17 Mar. 512/2 Much attention is being given [in S. Africa] to the production of fish flour in a form suitable for enriching bread. 1963Spectator 15 Feb. 191 Fish flour, which has been developed in the US, would seem to be everything that a cheap, protein-rich food should be. 1968M. Pyke Food & Society ii. 19 An argument about fish ‘flour’. This is a product composed of fat-extracted, dried and powdered fish. 1969N. W. Pirie Food Resources v. 140 Initially the product was called ‘fish flour’; now however, because of protests from flour millers, it is called ‘fish protein concentrate’ or FPC.
1866Prairie Farmer 16 June 412/1 (heading) Large *Fish Fly. 1902L. O. Howard Insect Bk. 211 The so-called comb-horned fish-fly..is the commonest form throughout the United States. 1955Sci. News Let. 14 May 313/2 The fishfly, which begins its slow, nocturnal flights about this time of the year, is among the earliest insects with complete metamorphosis, fossil records show.
1883A. Shea Newfoundland Fisheries 12 Their excellence would give them a high place in the *fish-food market. 1909Westm. Gaz. 14 Aug. 2/2 Fish-food from the sea. 1926–7Army & Navy Stores Catal. 1149/3 Zoological department... Fish Food—per pkt.— 11½. 1936Discovery Feb. 43/1 On northern streams the Stone Fly and Alder Fly are more numerous, among aquatic insects forming fish food, than the May Fly. 1967V. Canning Python Project ix. 175 Bags of hound meal, fish and bird food were stacked on the floor.
1824‘A. Singleton’ Lett. 66 *Fish⁓fries are held about once in a fortnight. 1936M. Mitchell Gone with Wind ii. 25 For two years he had squired her about the County, to balls, fish fries, picnics and court days. 1951W. de la Mare Winged Chariot 10 Tiniest fish-fry in a rock-bound pool.
1887Pall Mall G. 28 June 6/2 His two sisters..were cut and stabbed with a *fish-gaff.
1865Trans. Ill. Agric. Soc. V. 581, I remarked..on viewing some *fish geraniums..how much their scent was like that emitted from the scales of a fresh fish. 1901L. H. Bailey Cycl. Amer. Hort. III. 1261/2 Fish or Bedding Geraniums. 1946M. Free All about House Plants xvii. 163 House Geraniums (P[elargonium] hortorum), also known as Bedding, Horseshoe, Fish and Zonal Geraniums.
1601Holland Pliny II. 438 This *fish-glew [Ichthyocolla] is thought to be best, that is brought out of Pontus. 1676Worlidge Cyder (1691) 151 Isinglass, or Fish-glew. 1861Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon ii. iii. 181 Isinglass or Fish-glue is the prepared air-bladder or swimming-bladder of the sturgeon.
1883B. Phillips in Century Mag. Apr. 900/1 Starting with the crude *fish-gorge, I can show, step by step, the complete sequence of the fish-hook.
1856Rep. Maine Board Agric. 81 The manufacture of ‘*fish guano’, as recently attempted. 1884C. W. Smiley in U.S. Commiss. of Fish & Fisheries, Report for 1881 665 Six farmers used about five sacks each of fish guano.
1885*Fish hatchery [see hatchery].
1862London Society Aug. 134 All that can be at present done by the press is to show the ease with which a *fish-hatching apparatus can be established. 1869Rep. Comm. Agric. 1868 (U.S.) 319 The Chinese..have practised fish-hatching successfully for centuries. 1883G. B. Goode Fish. Indust. U.S. 59 This being needed for fish-hatching purposes, another larger steamer..has just been built.
a1813A. Wilson Osprey Poet. Wks. (1846) 280 God bless the *fish-hawk and the fisher! 1848Thoreau Maine W. (1894) 35 Fish-hawks were sailing overhead.
1856F. S. Cozzens Sparrowgr. Papers iii. 38 Mrs. Sparrowgrass asked me who that was ‘blowing a *fish-horn’. 1860J. G. Holland Miss Gilbert's Career xix. 351 The instrument leaping out into various angular flourishes, as if a fish⁓horn had got above its business and were ambitious of the reputation of a key-bugle. 1913W. W. Thompson Sea Fisheries Cape Col. iv. 82 The tuneless reverberations of the archaic fish-horn. 1947L. G. Green Tavern of Seas (1952) i. 7 The fish horn is music only in the ears of those who love Cape Town.
c1000ælfric's Gloss. Supp. in Wr.-Wülcker 184 Piscinale, *fischus. 1483Cath. Angl. 132/2 A Fische house, piscarium. 1701Lond. Gaz. No. 3748/4 A sand..stretcheth from the South end of the Town to the most Southern Fish⁓houses. 1877S. O. Jewett Deephaven 224 Going to market was apt to use up a whole morning, especially if we went to the fish-houses.
1905Daily Chron. 21 July 2/7 A common *fish insect, which had been injuring photographs and photographic material. 1948‘P. Woodruff’ Whatever Dies 170 There were old copies of the..Field, half eaten away by fish-insects.
1681Grew Musæum i. §1. 2 A long Cauldron like a *Fish-kettle. 1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 16 Over the pan, or fish kettle, put a gridiron.
1403Nottingham Rec. II. 20, j. *fyschknyff, ij d. 1825T. Cosnett Footman's Directory 129 Have two soup-ladles and fish-knives. 1826The Ass 1 Apr. 2 You there with the pinking eyes and the fish-knife nose.
1865Mich. Gen. Statutes (1882) I. 574 Sufficient and permanent shutes or *fish ladders to admit of the free and uninterrupted passage of fish over such dam or dams. 1885Bompas Life F. Buckland ix. 189 Many fish-ladders had proved useless. 1886Britten & Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-Names 184 Fish leaves.
c1440Promp. Parv. 163/1 *Fysch leep, nassa.
1832Miss Mitford Village Ser. v. (1863) 365 He's actually discussing the whole concern! fish, *fish-liquor, bread, and butter, and parsley.
1661N. Riding Rec. VI. 43 The milner of Brignall presented for that he do usually keep in the back beck a *fish-lock.
1540Sir R. Sadler State Papers I. 48, I eat eggs and white meats, because I am an evil *fishman. a1584Hist. Tom Thumb in Hazl. E.P.P. II. 220 Tom..is caught by a Fishman. 1794–6E. Darwin Zoon. (1801) IV. 145 A fishman asleep on his panniers. 1805Sporting Mag. XXV. 72 My fish-man of whom I constantly purchase. 1856L. Agassiz in Bence Jones Life Faraday (1870) II. 378 The enthusiastic fish⁓man whom you met at Dr. Mantell's.
1788Washington Diaries (1925) III. 330 The effect of the *fish Manure w[hi]ch was put into the Corn hills in May last was visible with the Wheat. 1868Rep. Mass. Board Agric. i. 105 Fish manures, the product of the oil-fisheries on our coast..sell at about forty-five dollars per ton.
1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. v. 381 Thou *Fish-Mariner [side note The Sayle-Fish], Thou Boat-Crab.
1840H. Malcom Trav. 30/1 I tried sharks' fins, birds' nests, *fish-maws. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Fish-maws..are sent to China and used as glue, &c.
1854Badham Halieut. 23 They ate it [fish] raw, dried, or ground down in whalebone mortars into *fish-meal bread. 1967Times 12 Apr. 28/4 Previously fishmeal was used mainly as a fertilizer, but now it is employed as an indispensable ingredient of animal feed.
1880Daily News 8 Nov. 2/5 The officers (*fishmeters as they are called) appointed by the Court of the Fishmongers' Company seized..18 tons 7 cwt. of fish as unfit for human food.
1578Lyte Dodoens ii. lxxiv. 245 The seconde wilde kynde..is called.. in English *Fisshe Mynte, Brooke Mynte.
1859R. J. Mann Natal viii. 171 It is one of nature's beneficent compensations that the *fish-moth is devoid of wings. 1942E. O. Essig College Ent. v. 70 The silver fish moth, Lepisma saccharina Linnaeus, is now almost cosmopolitan in distribution, being known in North America, Europe, China, Japan, and the Hawaiian Islands.
1881C. C. Harrison Woman's Handiwork i. 57 *Fish-net fringe..can be made of écru cord..in ordinary fish-net stitch, in large meshes. 1897Sears, Roebuck Catal. 238/2 Hot Weather Specialities... Men's Fish Net Undershirts..with short sleeves. 1933D. L. Sayers Murder must Advertise x. 182 My dear! and got up regardless..fish-net stockings and all.
1861Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon ii. iii. 188 Whale oil, known under the name of *Fish oil, is obtained from the Common Greenland Whale. 1887Pall Mall G. 22 Nov. 2/2 The duty-free admission into the States of..fish-oils. 1867A. L. Adams Naturalist in India 114 We were startled one night by the unpleasant laugh of the *fish-owl (Ketupa ceylonensis).
1868M. Jewry Warne's Model Cookery 98/2 Slide it [sc. the turbot] gently on to a hot dish, on which a folded damask napkin or ornamental *fish paper has been placed. 1924C. J. West Class. & Def. Paper 38 Fish paper, a term applied to a chemically treated board; used..as insulation in building dynamos and motors. 1928Daily Mail 9 Aug. 3/5 Always serve fried fish as hot as possible, dish it on a fish paper, [etc.].
1873Act 36–7 Vict. c. 71 §17 No person shall..wilfully scare or hinder salmon from passing through any *fish pass. 1885Bompas Life F. Buckland ix. 189 Varying weirs required different forms of fish-pass.
1920Peace Handbks. (Foreign Office) lxii. 55 Sturgeon..are made into *fish-pastes for local consumption. 1939T. S. Eliot Old Possum's Pract. Cats 31 A spoon and a bit of fishpaste. 1960A. E. Bender Dict. Nutrition 50/1 Fish paste legally must contain not less than 70% fish.
1853Ure Dict. Arts II. 361 In Saxony, a cheap but inferior quality [of pearls] is manufactured..They are known by the name of German *fish pearls.
1747H. Glasse Art of Cookery 88 When the Water boils, lay the Turbott on a *Fish-plate.
1802J. Drayton View South-Carolina 67 *Fish poison, horse chesnut, or buck's eye. (æsculus Pavia.) 1846Lindley Veget. Kingd. 384 Serjania triternata is also employed as a fish poison. 1866Lindley & Moore Treas. Bot., Fish-poison, Lepidium Piscidium. Jamaica, Piscidia Erythrina. 1884W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants 46/2 Fish-poison-plant.
1834Visit to Texas ix. 88 We touched [a flame] to a few of the tall canes, at this season as dry as *fish poles. 1841J. F. Cooper Deerslayer xiv. 99 Deerslayer..played with the end of a fish-pole in the water. 1957R. Ruark Old Man & Boy 261 ‘Just the cast net and some fish poles, Lottie,’ the old man said sweet as pie.
a1555Philpot Exam. & Writ. (Parker Soc.) 336, That *fish-pot or net in the which both good and naughty fishes be contained. 1681R. Knox Hist. Ceylon 28 They place Fish-pots between the Rocks. 1847Gosse Birds Jamaica 430 It was brought to him alive, having been knocked off a fish-pot-buoy.
1820Southey Lett. (1856) III. 183 The *fish-potters being unanimously of opinion that this is not the season.
1699W. Dampier Voy. II. ii. 12 A little to the East of this River is a *Fish-Range..Here are Poles to hang their Nets on, and Barbecues to dry their Fish.
1815Falconer's Dict. Marine, *Fish-room, that place between the after-hold and the spirit-room. c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 118 Fish-room, a place parted off in the after-hold..It was formerly used for stowing the salt-fish to be consumed on board.
1728E. Smith Compl. Housewife 70 English katchop..is good to put into *Fish Sauce. 1818Byron Beppo vii, I would recommend The curious in fish sauce..to bid their cook..buy..Ketchup.
1937N.Y. Times 16 Mar. 15/2 In Frankfort, the hot dog's home town,..*fish sausage had been introduced on the market. 1965Punch 12 May 682/1 Technology Minister Frank Cousins gave the Commons an interim report on current progress towards the development of the fish sausage. 1969N. W. Pirie Food Resources vii. 163 Also in Japan, 150,000 tons of fish sausage are eaten annually though it was almost unknown a few years ago.
1881N.Y. Times in G. B. Goode Amer. Fishes (1888) 112 These smacks are engaged..for the oil-rendering and *fish-scrap works on Barren Island.
1748H. Glasse Art of Cookery (ed. 2) v. 118 Have your *Fish-Slice ready. 1850Dickens Dav. Copp. lxi. 602 We pick out the spoons and forks, fish-slices..and sugar-tongs. 1886Punch 20 Nov. 252/2 The unavoidable absence of the fish-slice.
1879Encycl. Brit. X. 133/1 Gelatin-yielding substances..comprising..bladders and *fish sounds.
1552Huloet, *Fishe..stewe, icthyotrophia. 1885Chamb. Jrnl. 75 A proposal to revive the fish stews or ponds which in bygone times were so plentiful in this country.
1875J. C. Wilcocks Sea Fisherm. 57 A *fish-stick consists generally of a young holly bush deprived of its bark, and the branches left about a foot in length at bottom, diminishing to six inches at the top, the fish being thrust on through a hole in the back. 1953Time 12 Oct. 103 Birds Eye brought out fish sticks (fresh fish coated with a special batter, breaded, fried, packed and then frozen). 1955Kingston (Ont.) Whig-Standard 6 Apr. 25/2 The newly developed frozen fish fillets known as fish sticks.
1822in Picton L'Pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 379 The erection of such a number of *Fish Stones in Derby Square..as they may think proper for the accommodation of the neighbourhood.
1819St. Louis Enquirer 8 Dec. (Th.), A *fish story!.. In consequence of the shoals of white-fish which occupied and choaked the channel between Bois Blanc Island and Amherstburgh, the steamboat could not pass. 1823Missouri Intelligencer 28 Jan. (Th.), That's ‘a fish story’, but mine's a true one. 1867Harper's Mag. July 183/1 A friend who does not tell fish stories, says he has seen them [sc. herring] in such schools that he could not row his boat through them. 1887C. F. Holder Living Lights 97 Exaggerations are often termed ‘fish-stories’, for the reason perhaps that improbable tales are related concerning the denizens of the sea.
1615Sandys Journey iv. 255 The *fish-stoues by him hewne out of the rocke, and built.
1829P. Egan Boxiana 2nd Ser. II. 179 Short and sweet to the Sheenies—better than a prime *fish supper to their palates; their blunt had been laid out right. 1974News & Press (Darlington, S. Carolina) 25 Apr. 1/1 The Darlington Handicapped Chapter's fried fish supper will be held Friday night. 1985Times 5 Nov. 15/4 [Sc. correspondent] Nor did he treat himself to a fish supper at my expense.
1957Encycl. Brit. II. 159/2 Most of these [temperate-water] fishes..are not good candidates for domestic *fish tanks. 1984N.Y. Times 27 Aug. b3/5 A Manhattan man and his wife were moving their daughter's 10-gallon fish tank..when it suddenly slipped from their hands and smashed.
1879E. Arnold Lt. Asia i. (1886) 20 The pied *fish-tiger hung above the pool.
1878N. Amer. Rev. CXXVII. 236 The Shah..sent a *fish-torpedo against the Huascar.
1855H. Clarke Dict., *Fish-trowel.
1826Cushing Newburyport 118 *Fishwardens. Messrs. Offin Boardman, [etc.]
1845Mass. Acts. & Resolves 1843–45 434 Whenever a *fishway shall be constructed..all former laws relating to fishways at said dam shall be repealed. 1870Law Rep. V. 671 No mill is prejudiced by the making of a fishway in the dam.
c1000Ags. Gosp. Luke v 4 Lætað eowre nett on þone *fisc-wer. a1100Gerefa in Anglia (1886) IX. 261 Fiscwer and mylne macian. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 423 Tweye grete fische werys. 1883Harper's Mag. Aug. 376/1 Fish-weirs along the rocks.
1861Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. II. 73 The celebrated *fish-wood (Piscidia erythrina) used for the purpose of intoxicating fish.
1854Thoreau Walden 223, I catch shiners with *fishworms. 1933Amer. Speech VIII. iv. 15/2 The term fishworm has a wide distribution throughout New England. 1971Daily Hampshire Gaz. (Northampton, Mass.) 27 Aug. 1 Billy Middleton..was planning on going fishing when he had the chance to dangle a long fat fishworm in front of Sandra Dobbs.
1685in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 287 Allowing Mr. Maior..all the fish taken in y⊇ *fish yards in one tide. 1789Ibid. II. 241 To destroy the Fish Yards now set upon the..river Mersey.
▸ there are (plenty) more fish in the sea and variants: there will be many more (romantic) opportunities in the future (used chiefly to console someone disappointed in love).
[c1573G. Harvey Schollars Loove in Let.-bk. (1884) 126 In the mayne sea theres good stoare of fishe, And in delicate gardens and in gourgeous bowers, Theres allwayes greate varietye of desirable flowers.] 1859J. W. De Forest Seacliff xxlii. 333 Bait your hook again, and heave it somewhere else. There are plenty of other fish in the sea just as fine as this one. a1893H. C. De Mille & D. Belasco Lord Chumley i, in America's Lost Plays (1941) XVII. 143 Lord C. But you're quite right, Lady Adeline; I have been crossed in love. Lady A... Never mind, there are more fish in the sea. 1921W. de la Mare Mem. Midget xx. 142 Nil desperandum, Mr. Crimble. And you know what they say about fish in the sea. 1991A. Campbell Sidewinder ix. 116 ‘He didn't die of a broken heart, that's for sure, so what did he do about it?’ ‘He gets himself another woman. He wasn't particular. ‘Plenty more fish in the sea,’ he says.’
▸ fish and chip van n. Brit. = chip van n. at chip n.1 Additions.
1943N.Y. Times 12 Sept. 52/8 She converted an old car into a *fish and chip van which toured the villages [of Suffolk] with great success. 1953Times 20 Nov. 2/6 They denied that he was a ‘stall-holder’ by virtue of his ownership of the fish and chip van. 2001R. Barker Summertime 113 Their van has a side window, like a fish and chip van.
▸ fish-net n. (in pl.) open-meshed stockings or tights.
1967Indiana (Pa.) Evening Gaz. 13 Sept. 18 (advt.) With hemlines soaring to new heights, Casual Hose are ‘switched-on’ as never before! Choose all the very latest including *Fishnets, Lace,..Opaques and many more. 2002E. White Fast Girls x. 189 Madeline and Margaret are denizens of the Goth subculture—fans of Nine Inch Nails, Anne Rice novels, dressing in corsets and fishnets.
▸ fish-wrap adj. and n. N. Amer. colloq. (depreciative) (a) adj. of, relating to, or designating a low-quality publication, esp. a newspaper; (b) n. ephemeral printed matter which lacks (lasting) worth (considered as useful only for wrapping fish).
1964S. Martinelli Let. 5 Aug. in C. Bukowski & S. Martinelli Beerspit Night & Cursing (2001) 306 Wax Wrath [i.e. Kenneth Rexroth] knows all this too—and often employs it in his *fish-wrap chats—as this reader most certainly understands. 1966Independent (Long Beach, Calif.) 28 Feb. 1/6 (heading) Fish-wrap ages nearly as fast as fish. A new art magazine..will participate in the ‘autodestruction’ school by treating the pages..with a chemical ‘so that copies will disintegrate..in about four weeks’. 1991M. Atwood Wilderness Tips 223 A year from now it'll all be fish-wrap. 2001Village Voice (N.Y.) 25 Dec. 114/3 Quoyle installs himself at the local fish-wrap newspaper.
▸ fish wrapper n. N. Amer. colloq. (depreciative) a newspaper (cf. fish-wrap adj. and n. at Additions).
1910C. E. Montague Hind Let Loose i. 11 ‘The *fish-wrapper’, a title exchanged..by two standard-bearers of our culture in the press of the Far East. 1940Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 9 Jan. 21/1 The story of those Hawaiian hula dancers—a publicity stunt as flagrant as it proved illegal—was announced exclusively in his fish-wrapper! 2003Philadelphia Inquirer 16 May a26/2 Blair wasn't working for just any old fish wrapper but for the most venerated newspaper in the country.
▸ fish and brewis n. Newfoundland a dish of salted cod cooked with hard bread (cf. brewis n. 2).
1907N. Duncan Cruise of Shining Light ix. 90 They’re at table, lad, with *fish an' brewis sot out. 1966A. R. Scammell My Newfoundland 23 ‘Fish and brewis?’ Uncle Jasper's tone was reverent. ‘And scruncheons?’ 1992B. Morgan Random Passage xi. 139 Beside a big pot of fish and brewis are platters of trout and salmon, baked sea bird stuffed with breadcrumbs and savory.
▪ II. fish, n.2|fɪʃ|
[Of doubtful etymology.
The comb. fish-paunch, synonymous with sense 1, suggests that the word was a transferred use of fish n.1; the appropriateness of the name on this supposition is not obvious, but the same may be said of many nautical terms of undisputed etymology. On the other hand, it is possible that the word is a. F. fiche (see next); it is not known that the F. word was ever used in sense 1, but its etymological sense is ‘a means of fixing.’]
1. Naut. ‘A long piece of hard wood, convex on one side and concave on the other’ (Adm. Smyth), used to strengthen a mast or yard; a fish-piece.
1666Lond. Gaz. No. 59/3 We put hard hands on Jury Masts and Fishes. 1692in Capt. Smith's Seaman's Gram. i. xvi. 79 Lash the Fish on to the Mast. 1748Anson's Voy. iii. vii. 367 His fore-mast was broken asunder..and was only kept together by the fishes which had been formerly clapt upon it. 1749Chalmers Phil. Trans. XLVI. 367 The Spikes, that nail the Fish of the Mainmast. 1854G. B. Richardson Univ. Code v. 2143 Can you let me have a fish for my mast? c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 73 One fore and one aft fish dowelled and bolted to spindle and side trees.
transf.1833M. Scott Tom Cringle xvi. (1859) 410 A black paw with fishes or splints whipped round it by a band of spunyarn.
2. A flat plate of iron, wood, etc. laid upon a beam, rail, etc., or across a joint, to protect or strengthen it; in railway construction = fish-plate.
1847Specif. Adams & Richardson's Patent No. 11 715. 2 To connect the two iron rails together we use wood or iron fishes. 1875R. F. Martin tr. Havrez' Winding Mach. 4 Rods..tied together by oak fishes of the same scantling as the rods. 1875–6Proc. Inst. Civ. Engin. XLVI. 202 The original road had been laid with fishes 16 inches long.
3. attrib. and Comb., as fish-bar, -beam, -bolt, -hoop, (see quots.); fish-joint, a joint or splice made with fish-plates (also fish-plate joint); hence fish-joint v., -jointed, -jointing; fish-front, -paunch, = sense 1; fish-piece = 1, 2 above; fish-plate, one of two plates bolted together through the ends of two rails on either side of their meeting-point to cover and strengthen the joint; hence fish-plating.
1872W. S. Huntington Road-Master's Assistant (ed. 2) 27 Expansion..is supposed to have been provided for at the rolling-mill, by elongating the bolt-hole both in the rail and *fish-bar. 1874Knight Dict. Mech. I. 872/1 Fish-bar, the splice bar which breaks the joint of two meeting objects, as of railroad rails or scarfed timber.
1892Northumb. Gloss. s.v., A ‘*fish beam’ is a composite beam, where an iron plate is sandwiched between two wood beams.
1875J. W. Barry Railw. Appliances (1890) 61 The nuts of the *fish-bolts are apt to shake loose with the jar of passing trains. 1888Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin., Fish-bolt, a bolt employed for fastening fish plates and rails together.
1815Falconer's Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), *Fish-front, or Paunch is a long piece of oak or fir timber, convex on one side, and concave on the other, used to strengthen the lower masts or yards, when they are sprung.
1794Rigging & Seamanship I. 24 At the lower end of the fish is driven on a hoop, called a *fish-hoop, which is beat close to the sides of the mast.
1849J. Samuel in Proc. Inst. Civ. Engin. VIII. 265 A number of these *fish joints had been laid down. 1868Daily News 5 Nov., The almost universal adoption of the new ‘fish-joint rail’. 1892Northumb. Gloss. 286 A ‘fish joint’ is a joint made by bolting or riveting a plate on each side near the ends.
1855Dempsey Pract. Railw. Engineer (ed. 4) 265 A portion only of the lines of this kingdom being as yet *fish-jointed..It is obvious that with the same rail a fish-jointed road is much stronger.
Ibid. 267 Mr. Ashcroft has accomplished the *fish-jointing of 150 miles of line without accident.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Fish-piece. 1869E. J. Reed Ship-build. vi. 102 The fish pieces or covering plates.
1855Dempsey Pract. Railw. Engineer 268 The chairs are cast so that one side forms a *fish-plate. 1889G. Findlay Eng. Railway 42 In 1847 Mr. Bridges Adams introduced the suspended joint with fish plates. 1889Life of Vignoles xiii. 183 Vignoles always claimed to have been one of the earliest to introduce the fish-plate joint.
1881Young Every Man his own Mechanic §437 An exemplification of this fish-joint or *fish-plating is to be seen on any railway.
▪ III. fish, n.3|fɪʃ|
[ad. F. fiche (of same meaning; also peg), f. ficher to fix; see ficche v.]
A small flat piece of bone or ivory used instead of money or for keeping account in games of chance; sometimes made in the form of a fish.
Popularly confused with fish n.; hence the collective sing. is used for pl.
1728Vanbr. & Cib. Prov. Husb. i. i, I am now going to a party at Quadrille..to piddle with a little of it [money], at poor two guineas a fish. 1751Eliza Heywood Betsy Thoughtless I. 230 She was just going to call for the cards and fishes. 1766Anstey Bath Guide viii. 90 Industrious Creatures! that make it a Rule To secure half the Fish, while they manage the Pool. 1816Sporting Mag. XLVII. 297 A notorious gamester..at a game of loo, accumulated a large quantity of fish. 1825Hone Everyday Bk. I. 91 Mother-o'-pearl fish and counters. 1878H. H. Gibbs Ombre 9 A penny a fish will be found sufficiently high play.
▪ IV. fish, n.4|fɪʃ|
[f. fish v.; the senses are unconnected.]
1. An act of fishing. colloq.
1880Scribner's Mag. XX. 542/2, I will go find Tim..and have a fish.
2. a. The purchase used in ‘fishing’ or raising the flukes of an anchor to the gunwale. b. (See quot. 1892.)
1825H. B. Gascoigne Nav. Fame 51 The tricing Fish the careful Gunners hook, No time is lost, it firmly grasps the Fluke. 1892Northumb. Gloss., Fish, a tool used for bringing up a bore rod or pump valve.
3. attrib. and Comb. The n. in sense 2, or the vb.-stem, occurs in various technical terms (chiefly Naut.): fish-back, a rope attached to the hook of the fish-block, and used to assist in ‘fishing’ the anchor; fish-block, the block of a fish-tackle; fish-davit, a davit for fishing the anchor; fish-fall, the tackle depending from the fish-davit; fish-head, -martingale, -pendant (see quots.); † fish-rope = fish-fall; fish-tackle, that used for fishing the anchor; fish wire, a stiff wire, usu. looped at the end, used for pulling or ‘fishing’ wires through conduits, etc.; also fish tape. Also fish-hook 2.
1862Nares Seamanship 74 *Fish-back, from the fore⁓castle, and secured to the back of the fish hook.
1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ii. 10 The Dauid is a short peece of timber, at the end whereof..they hang a blocke in a strap called the *Fish-block, by which they hale up the flook of the Anchor to the Ships bow.
1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxxi. 120 The..*fish-davit [was] rigged out. 1882Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 93 Iron..fish davits are now fitted to nearly all ships.
1862Ibid. 74 It [the fish martingale] keeps the davit from topping up as the *fish fall is hauled taut.
1842Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. II. 171 The *‘fish-head’ for drawing a ‘drowned clack.’ 1883Gresley Gloss. Coal Mining 109 Fish-head, an apparatus for withdrawing the clacks of pumps through the column.
1862Nares Seamanship 74 *Fish martingale, a large jigger, the double block secured to one of the bolts in the davit head, the single block hooked down to a bolt in the ship's side.
1750T. R. Blanckley Naval Expositor, *Fish Pendant hangs at the end of the Davit. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 234 The upper end [of the fish-davit] being properly secured by a tackle from the mast-head; to which end is hung a large block, and through it a strong rope is rove, called the fish-pendant.
1630J. Taylor (Water-P.) Wks. i. 81/1 Cables, hawsers, *Fish and Cattrope..Halliers, Ropeyarns..were all of rare stuffes of great price.
1841R. H. Dana Seaman's Man. 105 *Fish-tackle.
1907W. S. Ibbetson Electr. Wiring x. 186 If the *fish wires are not put through the whole of the tubing, it is certainly better to put them at the difficult parts round bends, etc. 1958Van Nostrand's Sci. Encycl. (ed. 3) 1820/2 A fish tape or wire, a tempered steel wire of rectangular cross-section, is pushed through the conduit until its end appears at the farther end. A draw line is then attached to it and..the line is drawn through the conduit.
Add:[2.] c. An object which has been accidentally left or dropped down the bore-hole of an oil-well, and is hindering further drilling. Cf. *fish v.1 2 b and *fishing vbl. n.1 1 d. orig. U.S.
1931H. C. George Oil Well Completion & Operation iv. 214 Jarring frequently sets the slips so tightly against the lost tool that the teeth on the slip are partly buried in the metal of the ‘fish’. 1937W. F. Cloud Petroleum Production x. 397 If the ‘fish’ is covered with cavings, the tool usually can be ‘washed’ into the upper end of the last pipe. 1956Petroleum Engineer Apr. b56/1 After the fish is caught and freed, the rotary table should be locked. 1978Oil & Gas Jrnl. 20 Mar. 195/1 After several attempts to sidetrack a fish at total depth, a decision was made to test rather continuous shows from several zones. 1987Ibid. 30 Mar. 32/2 Cement was pumped on top of the fish before drilling resumed in the sidetracked hole.
▪ V. fish, v.1|fɪʃ|
Pa. tense and pa. pple. fished |fɪʃt|. Forms: 1 fiscian, 3 fissen, Orm. fisskenn, 4–5 fysshe(n, fis(s)he(n, 4–6 fisch(e, fishe, (4 fihche, fyschyn), 6 fyshe, 6– fish.
[OE. fiscian = OFris. fiskia, OS. fiskôn (Du. visschen), OHG. fiskôn (MHG. vischen, mod.Ger. fischen), ON. fiska (usually fiskja of differing conjugation; Sw. fiska, Da. fiske), Goth. fiskôn:—OTeut. *fiskôjan, f. *fisko-z fish n.1]
I. intr.
1. a. To catch or try to catch fish; to use nets or other apparatus for taking fish. Const. † after, for.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xxxii. §3 Ðonne ᵹe fiscian willaþ. c1200Ormin 13297 To fisskenn affterr fisskess. a1300K. Horn 1136 Ihc am a fissere, Wel feor icome bi este For fissen at þi feste. c1305St. Andrew 3 in E.E. Poems (1862) 98 As hi fischede aday Bi þe se oure louerd com. c1386Chaucer Reeve's T. 7 Pipen he coude, and fisshe, and nettes bete. c1440Promp. Parv. 163/1 Fyschyn, piscor. 1546J. Heywood Prov. (1562) D j b, He hath well fysht and caught a frog. 1674tr. Scheffer's Lapland 107 Their way of fishing alters with the season. 1727Swift Gulliver iii. i. 181, I beheld some people fishing with long angling rods. 1848Life Normandy (1863) I. 283 They fish for them very much in the same manner.
b. fig. (with reference to Mark i. 17).
1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) v. xiv. 80 These tonges were taken them as for theyr pryncipal Instrument for to fysshen with. 1552Latimer Serm. vii. (1562) 125 b, Their special callyng is to fishe, to preache the worde of God.
c. to fish in troubled waters: fig. to take advantage of disturbance or trouble to gain one's end.
1568Grafton Chron. II. 102 Their perswasions whiche alwayes desyre your unquietnesse, whereby they may the better fishe in the water when it is troubled. 1625Bp. R. Montagu App. Cæsar. v. 43 They..fare full and fatt by Fishing in troubled waters. 1722Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. iv. 276 You delight to fish in troubled waters. 1797Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1799) Though drunk as fish our rulers be, The thing sure little matters; Only it forces you and me To fish in troubled waters.
2. To search by dredging, diving, or other means for something that is in or under water, e.g. sunken treasure, pearls, coral, etc.
1655F. W. in W. Fulke's Meteors 166 Gold..found in Waters and Rivers is fished for, and is in form of little Grains. 1690Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 129 The..grant for fishing for silver at a wreck in the West Indies. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. vi. 134 A very rich Ship..lies to this day; none having attempted to fish for her.
3. a. To use artifice to obtain a thing, elicit an opinion, etc. Const. after, for. Phr. to fish for a compliment; also absol.
1563–87Foxe A. & M. (1684) III. 239 They both did come but to fish for some things which might make a shew that my L. Chancellor had justly kept him in prison. 1583Stanyhurst æneis iv. (Arb.) 108 Crosse thee seas: fish for a Kingdoom. 1638Penit. Conf. vii. (1657) 190 To fish..after secrets. 1752Fielding Amelia viii. x, The Half Guinea, for which he had been fishing. 1803Lett. Miss Riversdale I. 264, I feared he would think I was fishing for a compliment. 1806–7J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) iii. xxiii, At the game of commerce losing your life in fishing for aces. 1814Jane Austen Mansf. Park II. xi. 252, I am not fishing; don't compliment me. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair iv, The first woman who fishes for him, hooks him. 1886Mallock Old Order Changes II. 217, I should have fished for you to ask me. 1961W. Buchan Helen All Alone 183 ‘Don't fish!’ Helen said childishly... ‘But please—what is ‘fish’?’..‘Fish for compliments—make people say nice things about you.’
b. to fish for oneself: to get all one can; to seek one's own profit exclusively; to rely on one's own efforts.
1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. iii. (1739) 8 This raised the price of the Clergy, and taught them the way to fish for themselves. 1653Baxter Chr. Concord 117 Such men fish most for themselves. 1867M. E. Herbert Cradle L. ii. 48 He leaves you to fish for yourself among his miscellaneous stores. 1892Northumb. Gloss., ‘Aa'll gan an fish for mesel.’
c. Harvard College Slang (see quot. 1851): absol. to curry favour, strive to ingratiate oneself with another.
1774T. Hutchinson Diary 10 Oct. I. 261 He courts me a good deal, and fishes. I fish in return; and I think neither of us meets with much luck. 1851B. H. Hall College Words and Cust., Fish. At Harvard College, to seek or gain the good-will of an instructor by flattery,..or officious civilities; to curry favor..Students speak of fishing for parts, appointments, ranks, marks, &c.
II. trans.
4. a. To catch or try to catch (fish); to take as fish are taken; to collect (corals, pearls) from the bottom of the sea.
1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. vii. 118 b, The Misidan Sea..whereas are fished great quantitie of Pearles. 1611Bible Jer. xvi. 16, I will send for many fishers..and they shal fish them. 1667H. Oldenburg in Phil. Trans. II. 432 Red Coral..is fished from the beginning of April till the end of July. 1828Scott F.M. Perth, Thou hast fished salmon a thousand times. 1865J. G. Bertram Harvest of Sea (1873) 233 There is a period every year during which the oyster is not fished.
transf. and fig.c1374Chaucer Troylus v. 777 To fisshen hire, he layde out hook and lyne. c1400Rom. Rose 7494 To fisshen sinful men we go.
b. To use as a bait in fishing.
1922Times Lit. Suppl. 27 Apr. 273/3 Fishing the floating fly with a very fine cast. 1927Observer 24 July 26/3 Mackerel skin, on a single hook, cast and fished like a fly.
5. transf.
a. To draw or pull out of water, mud, etc.; to discover and bring out of a heap of lumber, a deep place, or the like. Also with out, up.
1632J. Lee Short Survey 21 The inhabitants fish out of the bottomes of their lakes a certaine rude matter. 1653D. Osborne Let. 22 Jan. (1903) 36 Where have you fished him out, for I think he is..little known in the world. 1707Lond. Gaz. No. 4304/1, 29 Brass Guns, lately fished up. 1727A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. II. I. 224 We..fished up some small Fir-trees, which we had converted into Masts. 1778Foote Trip Calais i. Wks. 1799 II. 343 My wife fished out a large piece of blue apron upon the top of her fork. 1822Byron Werner ii. i. 29 He..help'd to fish the baron from the Oder. 1834Medwin Angler in Wales I. 219 He was fished by his disciples out of the mud. 1880J. Lomas Alkali Trade 200 The crystals..are drawn out..or ‘fished’, and allowed to drain. 1889J. K. Jerome Three Men in Boat 64 We had to..fish them out of the bag. 1953H. Miller Plexus (1963) vi. 212, I fished out the money..and handed it to Sadie's brother.
fig.1652J. Wright tr. Camus' Nature's Paradox 10 Sometimes he fished wealth at Court, sometimes in his Government. 1886Edin. Rev. CLXIII. 177 [A service] either fished up from some ancient ‘use’, or invented afresh, like some of the fancy litanies we have heard of. 1889Spectator 23 Nov. 712/2 Out of the vast reservoir of facts..something might be fished up..of interest.
b. Naut. to fish the anchor: to draw up the flukes to the gunwale.
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), To fish the Anchor, to draw up the flukes upon the ship's side after it is catted. 1890W. C. Russell Ocean Trag. I. iii. 57 They..were fishing the anchor forwards.
absol.1893R. Kipling Many Invent. 364 (Envoy), Stop, seize and fish, and easy on the davit-guy.
c. Coal-mining. (See quot.)
1888Greenwell Gloss. Coal-trade Terms (ed. 3) 38 Fish, to catch up a drowned clack by means of a fish-head.
d. To pull (a wire) through a conduit or between floors or walls by means of a stiff looped wire or other device pushed in from the nearer end.
1896R. Robb Electr. Wiring v. 118 Wires are said to be ‘fished’ when they are started in at one end of a concealed space and then, so that they may be pulled through, are felt for, or ‘fished’ for, from the other end, with a hooked wire or other contrivance. Ibid., Wire in a flexible conduit may be fished just as the wire alone would be fished. 1914H. Pender Amer. Handbk. Electr. Engineers 1957 Flexible conduit possesses the advantage over rigid conduit in that it..may be fished between partitions or floors. 1930Moyer & Wostrel Indust. Electr. & Wiring vi. 151 In small houses..the boards can be taken up through the doorways, and the wires fished to the ceiling outlets and switches.
6. a. To try to catch fish in (a pool, stream, etc.). (Cf. similar use of shoot, etc.) to fish out: to exhaust the fish from.
c1440Lydg. Secrees 579 Lyk hym that..fyssheth a bareyn pool. 1539Act 31 Hen. VIII, c. 2 §1 Vnreasonable persones..haue..fished the said pondes..as well by night as by daie. 1676Cotton Angler vi. 47 Do but Fish this stream like an Artist. 1772Poetry in Ann. Reg. 224 She fish'd the brook. 1838James Robber ii, You are quite welcome to fish the stream. 1866Daily Tel. 5 Jan. 5/1 Rye Bay..is more fished perhaps than any piece of sea bottom in the world. 1892Daily News 12 Apr. 2/1 Whether the Thames is over-fished, or, as the very gloomy prophets say, fished out.
b. transf. To search through (a receptacle, region, etc.) for (something material or immaterial).
1727Swift & Pope Pref. to Miscel., Some have fished the very jakes for papers left there by men of wit. 1728Pope Dunc. ii. 80 Oft, as he fish'd her nether realms for wit, The goddess favour'd him. 1865Masson Rec. Brit. Philos. iv. 260 Nowhere else are the various sciences so fished for generalizations.
7. Chiefly with out: To get by artifice or patient effort; to ascertain, elicit (a fact or opinion). Const. from, out of. Cf. L. expiscari.
c1374Chaucer Troylus iii. 1113 (1162) He that nedis most a cause out fisch. 1531Instr in Elyot Gov. (1883) Life 72 To fish out..what opinion the Emperor is of us. 1541St. Papers Hen. VIII, I. 663 We maye fyshe out of them, whither they were procured or sent hither by any maner of meanes. 1590Greenwood Collect. Sclaund. Art. B b, They..haue..commaunded certaine theire priests..to fish farther cause of accusation. 1663Pepys Diary 7 Sept., I could not fish from him..what was the matter. 1709Strype Ann. Ref. I. xxiii. 271 Hoping by this means to have fished out money either of the king or him. 1713Addison Guardian No. 71 ⁋4 An admirable knack of fishing out the secrets of his customers. 1770in Doran Mann & Manners (1876) II. ix. 211 To desire a Lady to fish out of me whether I actually intended to go or not. 1866Mrs. H. Wood St. Martin's Eve xxxii. (1874) 412 She was trying to fish out..what real business he..had at Hatherton.
III. 8. [A new formation on the n.] trans. To dress (land) with fish-refuse as a fertilizer. U.S.
1651R. Child in Hartlib's Leg. (1655) 36 In the North parts of New-England, where the fisher men live, they usually fish their Ground with Cods-heads. 1894E. Eggleston in Cent. Mag. Apr. 851/2 In New England the peculiar mode of fertilizing learned from the Indians introduced a new verb; the first comers ‘fished’ their corn ground.
9. intr. Of water: to provide (good or bad) sport for anglers.
1898Daily News 4 Oct. 9/3 The Arun continues to fish badly. 1904Daily Chron. 13 Jan. 5/2 It is a loch that fishes best in the early part of the year. 1910Westm. Gaz. 26 Feb. 16/4 The Avon was fishing well for roach.
Add:[I.] [2.] b. To attempt to clear the bore-hole of an oil well of extraneous obstacles; to use a fishing-tool to seek for objects left or dropped in a bore-hole. Cf. sense 5 c below and *fishing vbl. n.1 1 d. orig. and chiefly U.S.
1917Dialect Notes IV. 341 Fish.., to try to recover lost tools in a well. 1921W. H. Jeffrey Deep Well Drilling iv. 158 That the driller may be prepared..to fish for lost tools it is essential that he know the exact dimensions of all his tools. 1937W. F. Cloud Petroleum Production x. 396 Horn sockets are not used frequently when fishing for tubing except in those cases where the tubing to be fished is not very long or heavy. 1974Scotsman 22 Apr. (Oil Register Suppl.) p. ix/8 When they go ‘fishing’, they will be trying to hook a piece of broken equipment lost in the well hole.
[II.] [4.] b. (Earlier and later examples.)
1877Fishing Gaz. 28 Dec. 6/2, I find it well to fish a cast of four or five flies in a river free from many rocks or overgrowing trees. 1962L. Wedlick Fishing in Austral. (1966) iv. 192 The only successful method is to fish a strip of garfish below a small cork float.
c. To make use of (equipment, a small boat, etc.) for fishing.
1913F. M. Halford Dry-Fly Man's Handbk. i. 18 This shows clearly that the ‘Halford’ rod..is the easier rod to fish. 1970I. Petite Meander to Alaska v. 43 The younger boy and I own a fishing boat together; he fishes it; I run this place. 1983Angling Times 3 Aug. 16 When fishing flowing water it is usual to fish a float fixed to the line ‘top and bottom’, or ‘double rubber’ as some anglers call it.
[III.] 10. trans. To take part in (a fishing competition).
1887Fishing Gaz. 30 July 61/2 Good Intent Angling Society. The members will fish a peg-down match at Waltham, on August 7th. 1950Britannica Bk. of Year 46/1 The All-England championship, fished at Potter Heigham, Norfolk, produced unexpectedly poor results. 1983Angling Times 28 Sept. 3/3 The world team fished a match against a team from Porthcawl.
▪ VI. fish, v.2|fɪʃ|
[f. fish n.2]
1. trans. To fasten a piece of wood, technically called a fish, upon (a beam, mast, yard, etc.) so as to strengthen it; to mend (a broken spar, etc.) with a fish or fishes. Also to fish together.
1626Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 3 Ready for..fishing or spliceing the Masts or Yards. Ibid. 13 A Jurymast..is made with yards, rouftrees, or what they can..fished together. 1748Anson's Voy. iii. i. 295 We were obliged to fish our fore-mast. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 120 Sometimes the pieces that are applied on the sides are made of wood; in this case, it is called fishing the beam. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxv. 83 All hands were now employed..fishing the spritsail yard. 1875R. F. Martin tr. Havrez' Winding Mach. 5 Fishing the rods with the wooden fishes.
b. To fasten (a piece of wood) on.
1711S. Sewall Diary 10 Sept. (1879) II. 322 Our Axel⁓tree..broke quite off..Fish'd on a piece in the morning.
2. To join (the rails) with a fish-joint.
1850C. H. Gregory in Proc. Inst. Civ. Engin. IX. 405 ‘Fishing’ the joints of the rails with two pieces of cast or wrought iron secured by bolts or rivets. 1866W. H. Barlow ibid. XXV. 409 It would not do..to fish old rails. |