herringn.
/ˈhɛrɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈhɛrɪŋ/ 1.
a. A well-known sea fish, Clupea harengus, inhabiting the North Atlantic Ocean, and coming near the coast at certain seasons in enormous shoals to spawn. It is an important article of food, and is the object of extensive fisheries on the British, Dutch, and Norwegian coasts. Also applied to other species of Clupea. Battle of (the) Herrings (French bataille des harengs), popular name of the battle at Rouvrai, 12 February 1429, fought in defence of a convoy of provisions: see quot. 1548 at α. .
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the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > seafood > [noun] > fish > herring
herringa700
white herring1469
meat herring1668
mattie1721
trash1749
Glasgow magistrate1833
crown fulls1854
full1854
fat herring1863
matjes herring1939
the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > subclass Actinopterygii > order Clupeiformes > [noun] > family Clupeidae and herrings > member of
herringa700
clupeoid1880
α.
β. 1472 Surtees Misc. (1888) 23 Feche & herrynge.1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) xviii. xxi. sig. bbiiij/1 It is sayd þt the camelion lyueth oonly by ayre..& the herryng [a1398 BL Add. heryng] by water.1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Liiiv/2 Herring, halec.1665 T. H. Exact Surv. Affaires Netherlands 111 Our Fish, especially our Herring, being..of general use for food throughout Europe.1720 D. Defoe Life Capt. Singleton 227 The Majority..were for pickling up the poor Dutchmen among the Herrings; in a Word..for throwing them all into the Sea.1880 A. Günther Introd. Study of Fishes 659 Clupea mirabilis.—The Herring of the North Pacific.a700 Epinal Gloss. 910 Sardinas, heringas.
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 94/13 Hærincgas and leaxas, mereswyn and stirian.
a1100 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 319/13 Taricus, uel allec, hærinc.
12.. Charter of Ælfwig dated 1060–66 in Cod. Dipl. IV. 172 vi. merswin and .xxx. þusenda hæryngys ælce eare.
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 758 Keling he tok, and tumberel, Hering, and the makerel.
a1400 Eng. Gilds (1870) 354 Euerych sellere of herynge in þe lente.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 237/1 Heerynge, fisshe.
1477 in Surtees Misc. (1888) 27 Heirreng for iiij a penny.
1512 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1885) III. 340 He sold his heyring at his plesure.
1535 Act 27 Hen. VIII c. 3 Fisher men..vse commonly to conducte and conuey their hearing sprottes and other fyshe to..Kyngstone.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. cvi This conflict (because the most part of the cariage was heryng & lenten stuffe,) the Frenchmen cal, the..battail of herynges.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 206 Two hearings every fish day.
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia i. 10 All Herings in abundance.
c1790 Lady Nairne Caller Herrin' (song) Who'll buy my caller herrin' [Sc. hairin']? They're no brought here without brave darin' [other rhymes farin', despairin'].
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Heering, Hearing.
b. With qualifications, expressing the condition of the fish, or the way in which it is cured. black herring n. a kind of cured herring. fat herring n. see fat adj. 2f. kippered herring n. = kipper n.1 and adj. mazy herring n. the highest brand of herring, which are full of roe. red herring n. a herring having a red colour from being cured by smoking; also figurative: see red herring n. round shore-herring n. herring salted just as they come from the water. split herring n. gutted herring cured and packed for the market. white herring n. (a) fresh herring; (b) herring salted but not smoked. white-salted herring n. herring cured according to the French method by gutting and packing in a thick brine, in which they stand until they are finally packed in fresh lime and salt. (See also bloated adj.1, corved adj., crux n., full adj. 1c, green adj., shotten adj.)
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the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > seafood > [noun] > fish > herring
herringa700
white herring1469
meat herring1668
mattie1721
trash1749
Glasgow magistrate1833
crown fulls1854
full1854
fat herring1863
matjes herring1939
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > seafood > [noun] > fish > cured fish > salted or pickled fish
pickle-herring1463
round shore-herring1469
split herring1469
white herring1469
white-salted herring1469
ling fish1489
pickled herring?1577
mudfish1600
old ling1600
sea-stick1604
cor1624
crux-herrings1641
red fish1728
dunfish1746
sea steak1798
caveach1822
fair maid1823
dun codfish1839
crape-fish1856
black herring1883
rollmop1892
schmaltz herring1912
stink-fish1913
stinking fish1935
Spithead pheasant1948
1469 in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (1790) 102 White herringes a laste, that is to say xij barrelles.
a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 54 Cover þy white heryng..þen cover red heryng and set abufe.
?1548 J. Bale Comedy Thre Lawes Nature iv. sig. Eiiijv They loue no pese porrege, nor yet reade hearynges in lent.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xiii. 26 Hoppedance cries in Toms belly for two white herring . View more context for this quotation
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 148 The English export into Italy great quantity of red Herrings.
1722 London Gaz. No. 6040/1 Salt used in the curing and making of White-Herrings.
1831 J. Sinclair Corr. II. 397 I begged him to give orders to send me some barrels of red herrings, caught and cured in Scotland.
1883 Great Internat. Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 72 Cured fish of various kinds—Black Herrings, Red Herrings, Kippers, Bloaters.
1888 Argosy 278 Fresh or white herrings, as they are called on the Norfolk coast, should be broiled.
c. Applied, with qualifications, to other fishes of the family Clupeidæ, or resembling them. branch herring n. the alewife, Clupea vernalis. California herring n. a species inhabiting the North Pacific, C. mirabilis. crake herring n. the scad. garvie-herring n. see garvie n. lake herring n. the cisco, Coregonus hoyi, which abounds in Lake Ontario. Ohio herring n. the skipjack, Clupea chrysochloris. rock herring n. a species of shad, Alosa fixta. toothed herring n. the mooneye, Hyodon clodalus. Also king of the herrings n. Chimæra monstrosa; also a species of ribbonfish, Regalecus glesne. mother of the herrings n. (or queen of the herrings) the allise-shad, Alosa vulgaris.freshwater herring, round herring: see the first element.
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1686 F. Willughby & J. Ray De Hist. Piscium ix. ix. §9 Clupea..Angl. A Shad, the Mother of the Herrings.
1836 W. Yarrell Hist. Brit. Fishes II. 364 Northern Chimæra. King of the Herrings..is generally taken when in pursuit of shoals of Herrings.
1861 J. Couch Hist. Fishes Brit. Islands II. 138 Crake Herring, Scad (North of Ireland) Trichurus vulgaris.
2. Proverbial phrases. †neither (no) barrel better herring, never a barrel the (a) better herring.: i.e. never one better than another, nothing to choose between them: see barrel n. 4 neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring.: see fish n.1 Phrases 2 dead as a herring: see dead adj. 32b. I like not barrel or herring: I dislike the whole of it. every herring should hang by its own head, gills, neck, tail: every one should stand on his own merits (local). Also thick as herrings (i.e. in shoals); like herrings in a barrel; as thin as a herring.
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1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. xi. sig. Lv A foule olde riche widowe, whether wed wold ye, Or a yonge fayre mayde, beyng poore as ye be. In neither barrell better hearryng (quoth hee).
a1563 J. Bale King Johan (1969) ii. 1922 Lyke lorde, lyke chaplayne; neyther barrell better herynge.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis ii. 23 For a ful reckning, I lyk not barrel or hearing.
1639 J. Clarke Paroemiologia 20 Every herring must hang by th' owne gill.
1672 W. Walker Paroemiologia Anglo-Lat. 23/1 Every herring must hang by its own neck; gill.
1674 tr. P. M. de la Martinière New Voy. Northern Countries 127 There was never a Barrel better Herring, one as rich and ill favoured as the other.
1694 T. D'Urfey Comical Hist. Don Quixote: Pt. 1 iii. ii. 32 Let not the fault of the Ass be laid upon the Pack-Saddle, every Herring must hang by its own Gills.
1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 240 Let every Herring hing by its own Head.
1795 ‘P. Pindar’ Pindariana 226 Virtues, thick as herrings, in their souls.
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy II. xiii. 267 Na, na! let every herring hing by its ain head.
1824 T. Carlyle Let. 4 Dec. in Coll. Lett. T. & J. W. Carlyle (1970) III. 215 It is the law in Yarmouth that ‘every herring hang by its own head’.
1890 H. Caine Bondman ii. ii Adam, thinking as little of pride, said No, that every herring should hang by its own gills.
1891 N. Gould Double Event 117 (Farmer) People jammed inside like herrings in a barrel.
Compounds
General attributive. C1. General combinations. † herring merchant n. Obsolete
herring-curer n.
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1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Herring-curer, a gutter and salter of herrings.
herring drove n.
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1765 J. Brown Christian Jrnl. 210 No herring-drove, but a storm approaches.
herring-fisher n.
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1704 London Gaz. No. 4058/5 The Sorlings went off to the Herring-Fishers.
herring-fishery n.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing for type of fish > [noun] > for herring
herring-fare1530
herring-fishery1615
1615 E. S. Brit. Buss in Arber Eng, Garner III. 625 Upon conference with some experienced in this herring fishery.
1838 Penny Cycl. X. 286/2 The principal herring-fishery off the coast of Norfolk and Suffolk commences in September and ends in the beginning of December.
herring-fleet n.
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1889 ‘E. Lyall’ Hardy Norseman iv. 39 We shall have the herring-fleet back from Iceland before many days.
herring-fry n.
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1591 R. Percyvall Bibliotheca Hispanica Dict. at Anchova Hering frie, halecula.
1865 H. H. Dixon Field & Fern: North iv. 65 Even the mild porpoise..is busy chasing the herring-fry.
herring-harvest n.
herring-lugger n.
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1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 54 Backe returned the Caterer..and powred downe the herringmerchant his hundred ducats.
herring-monger n.
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1614 Eng. Way to Wealth in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 242 The herring-mongers of Yarmouth.
herring-net n.
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1535 Aberdeen Reg. V. 15 (Jam.) Ane harein nett.
1615 E. Sharpe Britaines Busse sig. A3v The particulars of her Herring Nets, and of the Warropes and other Ropes, Cords and lines.
herring-pie n.
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1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 71 Euery yeare about Lent tide, the sherifes of Norwich bake certayne herring pies..and send them as a homage.
1751 S. Whatley England's Gazetteer at Norwich The sheriffs are obliged by their charter to present the K. 12 herring pyes yearly.
herring-scale n.
herring-season n.
herring spawn n.
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1906 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 11 Jan. 3/4 The practice of using herring spawn..has been the habit of the Indians all over British Columbia for many years.
1972 Guardian 1 Apr. 7/8 Herring spawn is relatively vulnerable and relatively few survive.
herring-time n.
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1039 in Earle Land-charters 297 And hæfde hit him wel neh twelf monað and twegen hæringc timan.
herring-tub n.
C2.
herring-sized adj.
C3. Special combinations:† herring-hang n. Obsolete a building in which herrings are hung to cure.
herring-brook n. = herring-pond n.
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1810 Naval Chron. 24 451 Unknown on this side the herring-brook.
herring choker n. slang (a) Canadian a nickname for a native or inhabitant of the Maritime Provinces; (b) U.S. a Scandinavian.
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the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > the Scandinavians > [noun] > native or inhabitant of Scandinavia
Danish833
Dane901
NorthmaneOE
Scandian1668
Norseman1817
Scandinavian1830
herring choker1899
Scandihoovian1929
Scand1930
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of America > native or inhabitant of North America > native or inhabitant of Canada > [noun] > parts of
Newfoundlander1611
mountainer1625
Acadian1705
Quebecker1775
bluenose1785
Labradorian1818
Nova Scotian1829
British Columbian1859
Québécois1862
Bluenoser1863
Torontonian1875
Montrealer1877
Winnipegger1882
Ontarian1883
novy1897
Yukonerc1898
herring choker1899
Maritimer1931
Newfie1942
Newfier1942
Spud Islander1957
Newf1958
1899 Yarmouth Telegram (Nova Scotia) 20 Oct. 1/1 I am down among the ‘herring chokers’ and ‘blue noses’ for a few weeks.
1899 Yarmouth (Nova Scotia) Telegram 20 Oct. 1/1 Happy the wearied globe-trotter and denizen of the ‘herring chokers’ of Nova Scotia.
1944 H. Wentworth Amer. Dial. Dict. 290/1 Herring-choker. 1. A Prince-Edward-Islander, or native of any of the Provinces ‘down east’. 2. A Scandinavian.
1954 Fundy Fisherman (Black's Harbour, N.B.) 3 Mar. 4/4 These Herring Choker senators point out that Duplessis has already peddled a lot of horse power to Ontario and indeed is selling plenty to Premier Frost et al. right now.
1968 Word Study Dec. 3/2 The Roman Catholic is frequently called a fish, short for fish-eater... Similar is the term herring-choker, another name for a Scandinavian.
herring-cooper n. see quot.
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society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > makers of containers or receptacles > [noun] > maker of casks or cooper > types of
white cooper1688
dry-cooper1715
under-cooper1745
butt cooper1813
tight cooper1889
herring-cooper1892
1892 Labour Comm. Gloss. Herring Coopers, who make the casks in which herrings are packed.
herring-drift n. see drift n. 11b.
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1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. III. 514 Herring-drift, 18 feet deep, 11 fathoms long.
herring-gull n. a species of gull, Larus argentatus, which follows herring-shoals and preys upon them.
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the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Laridae (gulls and terns) > [noun] > member of genus Larus (gull) > larus argentatus (herring-gull)
silvery gull1785
herring-gull1857
1857 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) I. 709/1 Arctic gulls, whose plumage differs from that of the herring-gull.
1892 Daily News 13 Dec. 4/8 The herring-gull—the pirate of the sea.
herring-gutted adj. having a narrow, thin body like a herring.
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1726 Learned Diss. Dumpling 9 Meagre Herring-gutted Wretches.
1811 Sporting Mag. 38 Lank-jawed, herring-gutted plebeans.
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the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preserving or pickling > [noun] > place for curing, smoking, or salting > specific for fish
deese1682
deesing-room1682
herring-hang1682
flake-yard1856
saltery1903
1682 J. Collins Salt & Fishery 106 They are hanged up in the Herring-Hangs, or Red-Herring Houses.
herring-hog n. dialect the grampus.
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the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > suborder Odontoceti > [noun] > family Delphinidae > genus Orcinus (killer whale)
grampusa1529
orcc1590
herring-hoga1641
orca1653
springer1700
thrasher1709
killer whale1726
grampus-whale1744
thresher1787
sword-whale1860
a1641 J. Smyth Berkeley MSS (1885) III. 319 The Sturgeon, Porpoise, Thornpole..the herringe hogge.
1674 J. Josselyn Acct. Two Voy. 10 We saw many Grandpisces or Herring-hogs, hunting the scholes of Herrings.
herring-king n. = king of the herrings (see 1c).
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1884 Day in Fisheries Exhib. Lit. II. 165 The genus Chimæra..as it makes raids upon the Herrings, it is called the ‘Herring King’.
herring-man n. a man engaged in the herring-fishery.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fisher > [noun] > for herring
herring-mana1568
herringer1857
a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) ii. f. 63v Not much vnlike the fisher men of Rye, and Hering men of Yarmouth.
1633 W. Ames Fresh Suit against Human Ceremonies Pref. sig. dv Its a hard world, when heerring-men revile fisher-men.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
herring-pike n. a fish of the group Clupesoces.
herring-salmon n. a name of North American species of Coregonus.
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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > family Salmonidae (salmon) > [noun] > genus Coregonus (whitefish) > member of
whiting1587
gwyniad1612
powan1633
whitefish1698
tittimeg1705
omul1706
pollack1707
pollan1714
skelly1740
vendace1769
tullibee1789
ferra1807
roundfish1821
herring-salmon1836
shad-salmon1842
mountain herring1877
bluefin1878
grayling1879
shad-waiter1879
houting1880
kilch1881
Menominee1882
gizzard-fish1883
1836 J. Richardson Fishes N. Amer. 180 The Herring salmon forms its [the namaycush's] principal food in Lake Huron.
herring-silver n. (see quot.).
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1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Herring-silver, Money formerly paid as an Equivalent for the Custom of giving a certain Quantity of Herrings for the Provision of a Religious House.
herring-wife n. a woman who sells herrings.
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1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Harengiere, a Herring-wife; a woman that cries, or sells Herrings.
herring-work n. herringbone work (Ogilvie).
Derivatives
herring v. (transitive) to manure with herring.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > fertilizing or manuring > fertilize or manure [verb (transitive)] > treat with other natural fertilizer
marlc1265
chavec1420
chalk?1578
lime1649
soot1707
sand1721
straw-burn1799
sprat1832
loam?1842
guanize1843
guano1847
bone1873
herring1879
1879 G. B. Goode Hist. Menhaden in Rep. Commissioner 1877 (U.S. Comm. Fish & Fisheries) V. App. A. 249 In Maine they talk of land that has been herringed to death.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.a700