game fishn.
/ˈɡeɪm fɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈɡeɪm ˌfɪʃ/ Originally U.S.
A fish of a kind which is caught by anglers for sport. Cf. coarse fish n. at coarse adj. Compounds 3.Used especially of salmon and trout (in fresh water), and (in the sea) of billfishes, sharks, bass, and many members of the mackerel family.Quot. 1837 may be merely an instance of game adj.1 as applied to fish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > [noun] > caught for sport
game fish1837
sporting fish1848
sport fish1915
the world > animals > fish > [noun] > defined by habitat > freshwater
river fisha1398
pond fish1631
pulch1655
game fish1837
coarse fish1895
1837 Sportsman Sept. 158/1 Supposing you begin with salmon, or rather trout, as they are superior ‘game fish’.
1843 Berrow's Worcester Jrnl. 13 July A..stream..stocked, not only with the finer game fish of the smaller kinds, such as trout and grayling, but even with salmon and salmon trout.
1869 Hours at Home May 79/2 The aristocrat—par excellence—of gamefish, the speckled trout.
1908 C. F. Holder Big Game at Sea xix. 288 The arapaima..the game fish of South American waters.
1951 T. C. Roughley Fish & Fisheries Austral. i. 60 The queenfish..is considered to be one of the fastest and most spectacular game-fish.
2010 New Yorker 25 Oct. 66/2 They are highly efficient feeders, outconsuming other fish and leaving less for the fry of such game fish as bass, crappies, and walleyes.
Derivatives
ˈgame fishing n. the sport or pastime of fishing for these.
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1886 Wellesville (N.Y.) Daily Reporter 8 June 1/2 Mrs. Cleveland however, not being an expert in the art of game fishing, was unable to land a fish.
1931 Austral. Q. Sept. 76 There is an increasing amount of game fishing now being practised in Queensland and North Australia.
2010 B. Moss Ecol. Fresh Waters (ed. 4) 349/1 Game fishing is much more expensive than coarse fishing.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1837