mackereln.1
/ˈmak(ə)rəl/, /ˈmak(ə)rl̩/, U.S. /ˈmæk(ə)rəl/ 1.
a. Any of various fast-swimming pelagic fishes of the family Scombridae, several of which are fished commercially for food; esp. Scomber scombrus, of the North Atlantic and Mediterranean, which approaches the shore in shoals in summer for spawning. Also (with distinguishing word): any of various other fishes resembling a mackerel.frigate, horse, king, Spanish mackerel, etc.: see the first element.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Scombroidei (mackerel) > [noun] > family Scombridae > genus Scomber > member of (mackerel)
mackerelc1300
yellowtaila1622
Scomber1623
tinker1848
Spanish mackerel1880
Monterey mackerel1884
thimble-eye1888
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 758 Keling he tok, and tumberel, Hering, and þe makerel.
1377 in R. E. G. Kirk Acct. Abingdon Abbey (1892) 38 In makerell' xxxiij s.
a1425 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 642/2 (MED) Hic megarus; Anglice, makyrelle.
a1475 J. Russell Bk. Nurture (Harl. 4011) in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 155 Merlynge, makerelle.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 241/2 Macquerell a fysshe, macquerel.
1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 12v When Mackrell ceaseth from the seas, Iohn Baptist brings, grassebeefe, and pease.
1601 R. Chester Loves Martyr 99 Sommer louing Mackrell.
a1627 T. Middleton & W. Rowley Spanish Gipsie (1653) iii. sig. E3v Bad fortunes are like Mackerell at Midsummer.
a1658 J. Cleveland Poor Cavalier 51 Thou shalt..Bait Fishes Hooks to couzen Mackrels Lips.
1704 J. Swift Tale of Tub 215 A Book that misses its Tide, shall be neglected..like Mackarel a Week after the Season.
1737 Compl. Family-piece (ed. 2) i. iii. 214 Slit your Mackrel in halves, take out the Roes, gut and clean them.
1789 H. L. Piozzi Observ. Journey France I. 2 Shoals of maycril.
1838 J. S. Polack New Zealand I. ix. 322 The pátiki..is equally excellent with the European fish [sc. sole], as are also the mackarel, of which there are several varieties.
1843 E. Dieffenbach Trav. N.Z. II. 209 Scomber loo..(Scomber scombrus, Solander, Pisc. Austr., p. 31.) Solander observed this mackerel in Queen Charlotte's Sound.
1870 J. Yeats Nat. Hist. Commerce 321 Mackerel will bite at almost any bait.
1886 R. A. A. Sherrin Handbk. Fishes N.Z. 61 In season mackerel are often found between Cape Colville and the Great Barrier.
1904 E. Tregear Maori Race 107 Mackerel were prepared by being cleaned inside and washed with salt water.
1936 ‘R. Hyde’ Passport to Hell 15 A large and gleaming mackerel, caught off the edge of the Auckland wharves.
1951 T. C. Roughley Fish & Fisheries Austral. 96 Common mackerel (Slimy mackerel—Pneumatophorus australasicus). The common mackerel (of the family Scombridæ) is found in all Australian States and occurs in great numbers, particularly round the southern half of the continent where it inhabits ocean waters no great distance from the coast.
1960 R. B. Doogue & J. M. Moreland N.Z. Sea Anglers' Guide 250 Common mackerel..is the mackerel of English-speaking countries... Other names: Pneumatophorus japonicus; southern mackerel, English mackerel, frigate mackerel; tawatawa (Maori).
1990 Here's Health Dec. 21/2 Pelagic fish live in large groups or shoals, in the middle and uppermost layer of the sea (mackerel, herring).
b. The flesh of a mackerel as food.
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1845 E. Acton Mod. Cookery iv. 137 (heading) Gooseberry sauce for mackerel.
1872 ‘A. Merion’ Odd Echoes Oxf. 21 Come let the mackerel soused be brought.
1971 A. Clarke in Oxf. Bk. Canad. Short Stories (1986) 235 To eat her boiled mackerel and green bananas, which their wives and women had..forgotten how to cook.
1993 Taste Aug. 61 Lunch is a snip..for say, grilled mackerel with wild garlic.
2. Angling. = mackerel fly n. at Compounds 2.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > means of attracting fish > [noun] > real or imitation flies
stone-flya1450
ant-fly1653
hawthorn-fly1653
mayfly1653
oak fly1653
wall-fly1653
pismire-fly1670
cow-lady1676
mayfly1676
owl fly1676
brown1681
cow-turd-fly1684
trout-fly1746
orl fly1747
hazel fly?1758
iron-blue fly?1758
red spinner?1758
Welshman's button?1758
buzz1760
Yellow Sally1766
ash-fly1787
black caterpillar1787
cow-dung fly1787
sharn-fly1787
spinner1787
woodcock-fly1787
huzzard1799
knop-fly1799
mackerel1799
watchet1799
iron blue1826
knob fly1829
mackerel fly1829
March brown1837
cinnamon fly1867
quill gnat1867
sedge-fly1867
cob-fly1870
woodcock wing1888
sedge1889
olive1895
quill1899
nymph1910
green weenie1977
Montana1987
1799 tr. Laboratory (ed. 6) II. x. 311 Mackerel. Dubbing, of light brown camel's hair.
1864 Intellectual Observer 6 152 A fly known to anglers as the mackerel.
Phrases
In proverbs and proverbial expressions. See also sprat n.1 Phrases.
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1760 S. Foote Minor i. 24 Yo can be secret as well as serviceable... Mute as a mackrel.
1819 Metropolis (ed. 2) III. 154 We were as mute as mackarel for exactly seven minutes and a half.
Compounds
C1. General attributive and objective.
mackerel-catcher n.
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1614 T. Gentleman Englands Way to win Wealth 32 The Fishermen, Mackrel-Catchers.
1857 Harper's Mag. Sept. 541/1 I can recommend a cruise in a mackerel-catcher.
mackerel fisher n.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fisher > [noun] > for mackerel
mackerel fisher1663
mackereler1880
1663 T. Allin Jrnl. 6 June (1939) (modernized text) I. 114 We..saw many mackerel fishers.
1840 H. D. Thoreau Jrnl. 21 Mar. in Writings (1981) I. 118 By another spring I may be a mail carrier in Peru..or a mackerel fisher off Cape Sable.
1993 Times 14 Aug. ii. 10/5 Bass, bright silver fish that often ‘school’ inshore and can be caught on the simple spinning lures that mackerel-fishers often use.
mackerel fishery n.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing for type of fish > [noun] > for mackerel
shot-farec1736
mackerel fishery1769
mackereling1856
1769 Observ. Several Acts of Parl. 2 There are upwards of three hundred vessels employ'd.., and about ninety sail in the mackrel fishery.
1908 Jrnl. Marine Biol. Assoc. 8 269 (title) Plankton studies in relation to the western mackerel fishery.
mackerel fishing n.
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1832 W. H. Maxwell Wild Sports of West I. xx. 211 He who has experienced the glorious sensations of sailing..will estimate the exquisite enjoyment our morning's mackerel-fishing afforded.
1983 E. Pizzey Watershed i. iii. 26 He talked of mackerel fishing and his plans for an allotment.
mackerel fleet n.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > [noun] > a number of in company
consort1591
armada1625
fleet1697
mackerel fleeta1862
fleetful1899
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Cape Cod (1865) ix. 183 A fisherman told us that there were fifteen hundred vessels in the mackerel fleet.
1894 H. Caine Manxman 425 The mackerel fleet were leaving for Kinsale.
mackerel gaff n.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > spear > [noun]
pricka1350
garfanglec1440
wawsper1472
spear1551
waster1580
fizgig1589
visgee1593
fish-spear1611
glaive1640
fish-giga1642
gaff1656
gig1705
lance1728
sticker1772
graina1818
picaroon1837
pickpole1837
fishing-spear1840
lily-iron1852
gambeering iron1883
mackerel gaff1883
1883 Great Internat. Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 195 Mackerel gaff..used by New England fishermen.
mackerel net n.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > net > [noun] > net for mackerel
shot-net1320
mackerel net1584
kettle-net1881
1584 in D. Yaxley Researcher's Gloss. Hist. Documents E. Anglia (2003) 81 Fyftene mackerell netts two spyrling netts, also tenne hearring flewes.
1836 1st Rep. Irish Fisheries 167 in Parl. Papers 1837 XXII. 1 The Skad-net is nearly similar to the Mackerel-net.
1990 Animals' Agenda Mar. 46/1 A 61-year-old Nova Scotia fisherman..bludgeoned an endangered leatherback turtle caught in his mackerel net.
mackerel smack n.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > fishing vessel > [noun] > fishing for mackerel
mackerel-boat1652
mackerel smack1697
mackereler1889
1697 London Gaz. No. 3295/3 An open Pinnace..came into the Downes,..put on Board a Mackrel Smack, and carried away the Master.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxiii. 236 Captain Faucon standing at the tiller himself, and steering her as he would a mackerel smack.
C2. † mackerel cry n. Obsolete rare a street vendor's cry announcing mackerel for sale.† mackerel gale n. Obsolete a strong breeze regarded as favourable to the catching of mackerel (cf. mackerel breeze n.).† mackerel-midge n. Obsolete a young rockling, esp. one of the genus Rhinonemus.† mackerel mint n. Obsolete the plant spearmint, Mentha spicata.† mackerel-snatcher n. Obsolete U.S. slang rare (derogatory) = mackerel-snapper n.† mackerel-sture n. Obsolete the tuna, Thunnus thynnus.
mackerel bait n. any of various marine organisms which mackerel will take as bait, esp. jellyfish.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > means of attracting fish > [noun] > bait > materials for
bait1496
paste1653
greaves1740
mackerel bait1866
1866 De Bow's Rev. Nov. 477 Of the alosa menhaden,..large numbers are caught for mackerel bait.
1950 Cape Argus 16 June 5/8 These fish are still biting well, although most are caught on whole chokka or mackerel bait.
mackerel bird n. (a) Channel Islands (Guernsey), the wryneck, Jynx torquilla; (b) a young kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla.
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the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Laridae (gulls and terns) > [noun] > member of genus Larus (gull) > larus tridactylus (kittiwake)
kittiwake1661
tarrock1674
petrel1770
haglet1803
kitty1806
tickle-ace1819
wake-up kittle1832
mackerel bird1879
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Piciformes > [noun] > family Picidae > jynx torquilla (wryneck)
wryneck1585
jynxa1657
yunx1694
barley-bird1766
long tongue1822
cuckoo's mate1831
snake-bird1831
pea-bird1838
writheneck1840
rinding-bird1849
weet-bird1863
mackerel bird1879
felling bird1883
turkey-bird1885
1879 C. Smith Birds of Guernsey 94 The Wryneck..arriving..about the same time as the mackerel, wherefore it has also obtained the local name of ‘Mackerel Bird’.
1882–4 W. Yarrell Hist. Brit. Birds (ed. 4) III. 654 Mr. Cordeaux says that the Flamborough fishermen call the young Kittiwakes ‘Mackerel-birds’, because they usually appear at sea with their parents in August when the fish are approaching the coast.
1889 Clarke's Guernsey News 12 Apr. 2/5 The mackerel bird was heard at St. Martin's on Sunday last.
mackerel-boat n. a boat for mackerel fishing (see quot. 1867).
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > fishing vessel > [noun] > fishing for mackerel
mackerel-boat1652
mackerel smack1697
mackereler1889
1652 French Occurr. No. 2. 16 Divers men are pressed for the States service out of the Coal-ships, and Mackarel-boats.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 461 Mackerel-boat, a stout clinch-worked vessel, with a large foresail, spritsail, and mizen.
mackerel bob n. a four-pointed fish-gig for catching mackerel.
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1883 Great Internat. Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 195 Mackerel bob formerly used by New England fishermen for the capture of mackerel without the use of bait.
mackerel breeze n. a breeze that ruffles the water, so as to favour the catching of mackerel (cf. mackerel gale n.).
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [noun] > wind of the kind when fish are caught
mackerel gale1577
mackerel breeze1751
fishing-breeze1888
1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle II. lxix. 249 They tacked to and fro in the river, under the impulse of a mackerel breeze.
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Cape Cod (1865) ix. 176 They caught mackerel..‘a smart breeze’ (thence called a mackerel breeze) being..‘considered most favorable’ for this purpose.
mackerel-breezy adj. characterized by a mackerel breeze.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [adjective]
windyc1000
subventaneous1646
anemonal1833
mackerel-breezy1834
vental1887
1834 R. Mudie Feathered Tribes Brit. Islands I. 2 It is one of those mackerel-breezy days on which the surface of the water just dances and dimples.
mackerel clouds n. the clouds in a mackerel sky.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > [noun] > a cloud > cumulus > cirro-cumulus
cirro-cumulus1803
mackerel-back1814
sonder-cloud1816
mackerel clouds1830
mackerel flecks1940
1830 N. S. Wheaton Jrnl. 510 Mackarel clouds..are hung around the horizon.
1982 R. Fulford in G. Lynch & D. Rampton Canad. Ess. (1991) 288 The Arctic Islands had the fascinating fretted shapes of mackerel clouds in a sunset.
mackerel cock n. British regional and Irish English the Manx shearwater, a bird of Atlantic and Mediterranean waters, Puffinus puffinus, which is brownish black with white underparts.
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the world > animals > birds > order Procellariiformes > [noun] > member of family Procellariidae (petrel) > member of genus Puffinus (shearwater) > puffinus anglorum (Manx shearwater)
puffin1337
pilwater1603
lyre1654
shearwaterc1671
scrabe1676
Manx puffin1678
mackerel cock1772
Manx shearwater1835
scraber1852
1772 J. Rutty Ess. Nat. Hist. Dublin I. 329 The Mackarel-Cock..a bird of passage coming to us in June and July, about the time of the Mackarels... It is commonly as big as a Cormorant .
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 212 Manx Shearwater... Also called Mackerel cock.
1950 A. W. Boyd Coward's Birds Brit. Isles (rev. ed.) 2nd Ser. 110 The light-keepers told me that the ‘Mackerel Cocks’ were most clamorous after rain.
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society > communication > indication > that which identifies or distinguishes > word or cry > [noun] > watchword or rallying cry
wake-word1510
byworda1513
cry1548
mackerel cry1716
watchword1738
view halloo1761
rallying cry1793
rallying word1793
war cry1836
1716 J. Gay Trivia ii. 40 Ev'n Sundays are prophan'd by Mackrell Cries.
mackerel flecks n. = mackerel clouds n.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > [noun] > a cloud > cumulus > cirro-cumulus
cirro-cumulus1803
mackerel-back1814
sonder-cloud1816
mackerel clouds1830
mackerel flecks1940
1940 R. Gibbings Sweet Thames run Softly xx. 182 Tall nimbus clouds reared their heads towards the mackerel flecks in the upper air.
mackerel fly n. Angling (a) a kind of mayfly (now rare); (b) an artificial fly used to catch mackerel, esp. one imitating this.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > means of attracting fish > [noun] > real or imitation flies
stone-flya1450
ant-fly1653
hawthorn-fly1653
mayfly1653
oak fly1653
wall-fly1653
pismire-fly1670
cow-lady1676
mayfly1676
owl fly1676
brown1681
cow-turd-fly1684
trout-fly1746
orl fly1747
hazel fly?1758
iron-blue fly?1758
red spinner?1758
Welshman's button?1758
buzz1760
Yellow Sally1766
ash-fly1787
black caterpillar1787
cow-dung fly1787
sharn-fly1787
spinner1787
woodcock-fly1787
huzzard1799
knop-fly1799
mackerel1799
watchet1799
iron blue1826
knob fly1829
mackerel fly1829
March brown1837
cinnamon fly1867
quill gnat1867
sedge-fly1867
cob-fly1870
woodcock wing1888
sedge1889
olive1895
quill1899
nymph1910
green weenie1977
Montana1987
1829 S. Glover Hist. County of Derby I. 177 Lesser hackle fly, mackerel fly [etc.].
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [noun] > wind of the kind when fish are caught
mackerel gale1577
mackerel breeze1751
fishing-breeze1888
1577 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Islande Brit. i. viii. f. 19/1, in R. Holinshed Chron. I Scarse comparable to the makerell gale.
1769 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (new ed.) III. iv. 222 This fish [sc. mackrel] is easily taken by a bait, but the best time is during a fresh gale of wind, which is thence called a mackrel gale.
mackerel guide n. the garfish, Belone belone.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Atheriniformes > [noun] > member of family Belonidae (gar-fish)
horn-fishOE
hornkeckc1425
garfishc1440
horn-stocka1485
green-bone1525
hornbeak1565
thorn-beak1570
horn-back1598
needlefish1601
spit-fish1601
sea-needle1603
ganefish1611
snacot-fish1611
greenbacka1682
bill-fisha1757
gar1767
sea-pike1769
saury1771
gar-pike1776
sea-snipea1832
mackerel guide1835
long-nose1836
gore-fish1839
gorebill1862
mackerel-scout1880
Long Tom1881
snipe-eel1882
1835 L. Jenyns Man. Brit. Vertebr. Animals 419 Belone vulgaris... From its usually preceding the Mackerel, is sometimes called the Mackerel-Guide.
1883 F. E. Sawyer Sussex Nat. Hist. 13 Gorebill.—This fish (Belone vulgaris) is supposed to act as a pilot to the mackerel, and is hence called the ‘mackerel guide’.
mackerel gull n. (a) U.S. (chiefly New England), the black-headed gull, Larus ridibundus; (b) U.S. (chiefly New England), a tern; (c) the razorbill, Alca torda.
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the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Laridae (gulls and terns) > [noun] > member of genus Sterna (tern)
stern1609
sternet1638
sea-swallow1647
tern1678
rittock1774
mackerel gull1792
gull-teaser1802
kip1802
rippock1806
kingbird1831
pirr1875
1792 J. Belknap Hist. New-Hampsh. III. 169 Mackerel Gull, Larus ridibundus.
1832 W. D. Williamson Hist. Maine I. 145 The mackerel gull is nearly as large as a goose.
1883 Cent. Mag. Sept. 653/1 Among the most common birds are the..tern or mackerell-gull.
1893 A. Newton et al. Dict. Birds: Pt. II 529 Mackerel-gull, one of the numerous appellations of the Razor-bill.
1951 H. S. Peters & T. D. Burleigh Birds Newfoundland 246 This large tern [sc. the Caspian tern]..is known as the ‘Mackerel Gull’ at some points on the southeast coast.
1956 Bull. Mass. Audubon Soc. 40 22 Laughing Gull... Mackerel Gull (..from being seen at the time of the mackerel fishery).
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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > superorder Paracanthopterygii > order Gadiformes (cod) > [noun] > family Gadidae > rocklings > motella vulgaris (three-bearded rockling) > young
mackerel-midge1832
midge1832
1832 Mag. Nat. Hist. 5 16 It is the mackerel midge of our fishermen, to whom it is well known.
1860 P. H. Gosse Romance Nat. Hist. 149 The mackerel-midge..never surpasses an inch and a quarter in length.
1985 Jrnl. Fish Biol. 27 61 The shore rockling spawns offshore and has extensive planktonic larval, post-larval and juvenile (‘mackerel-midge’) developmental stages.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > culinary herbs > mint or spearmint
minteOE
spearmint1562
brown mint1597
mackerel mint1597
green mint1770
pudina1842
spire mint1863
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 553 The third [Mint] is called..in English Speare Mint,..Browne Mint, and Macrell Mint.
mackerel pike n. = saury n.
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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > subclass Actinopterygii > subdivision Teleostei > [noun] > order Elopiformes > member of family Elopidae (ten-pounder)
ten-pounder1699
sea-galliwaspa1705
seine-fish1725
saury1771
mackerel pike1890
ladyfish1971
1890 Cent. Dict. Mackerel-pike.
1964 Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. 2 178 Mixtures of isomers do..occur. Key references..are Toyama, Iwata and Fujimura..for Japanese sardine and mackerel-pike.
2003 K. Louie & M. Low Asian Masculinities 167 A child gives the guts of a mackerel pike from her plate to her mother's lover.
mackerel plough n. rare a knife used for creasing the sides of inferior mackerel in order to improve their appearance.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > knife > [noun]
saxa800
knifea1100
trencherc1330
coultera1382
shear1382
thwittlec1405
prag1481
cuttle1551
chiv1673
machine knife1867
mackerel plougha1884
a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 343 Mackerel Plow, also known as a fatting knife, for creasing the sides of lean mackerel to improve their appearance.
mackerel scad n. a scad, Decapterus macarellus, of Atlantic coasts, having a row of small bony scales along each side.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Scombroidei (mackerel) > [noun] > family Carangidae (scads) > member of Trachurus or Caranx (horse mackerel)
scad1602
yellowtaila1622
mother of anchovies1668
hardtail1704
horse-mackerela1705
lizard fish1753
jurel1772
scad mackerel1803
maasbanker1831
caranx1836
saurel1882
runner1888
mackerel scad1890
1890 Cent. Dict. Mackerel-scad.
1897 Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 9 362 Decapterus macarellus..Mackerel Scad..was found common at Southampton, Long Island.
1957 Encycl. Brit. IX. 319/2 In the scads..enlarged scutes extend the whole length of the lateral line... The mackerel scads (Decapterus) are more elongate and cigar-shaped.
1980 List Common & Sci. Names Fishes U.S. & Canada (Amer. Fisheries Soc. Special Publ. No. 12) (ed. 4) 43 Decapterus macarellus..Mackerel scad.
mackerel-scout n. = mackerel guide n.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Atheriniformes > [noun] > member of family Belonidae (gar-fish)
horn-fishOE
hornkeckc1425
garfishc1440
horn-stocka1485
green-bone1525
hornbeak1565
thorn-beak1570
horn-back1598
needlefish1601
spit-fish1601
sea-needle1603
ganefish1611
snacot-fish1611
greenbacka1682
bill-fisha1757
gar1767
sea-pike1769
saury1771
gar-pike1776
sea-snipea1832
mackerel guide1835
long-nose1836
gore-fish1839
gorebill1862
mackerel-scout1880
Long Tom1881
snipe-eel1882
1880–4 F. Day Fishes Great Brit. & Ireland II. 148 In Ireland, horn-eel (Belfast Bay); mackerel-scout (Strangford Lough).
mackerel shark n. a shark of the family Lamnidae, esp. the mako, Isurus oxyrinchus, or the porbeagle, Lamna nasus.
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the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Pleurotremata > [noun] > family Isuridae > member of genus Lamna
sea-shark1655
porbeagle1758
mackerel shark1819
1819 Plough Boy I. 135 The revenue cutter brought in two very strange fish, found eating a dead horse, supposed to be mackerel sharks.
1959 A. Hardy Fish & Fisheries iv. 73 The inclusion here [i.e. in the British list] of the mako or mackerel shark, Isurus oxyrinchus, is a surprise.
1971 Islander (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 17 Oct. 6/1 A..fisherman..found a drift bottle inside a mackerel shark.
1986 C. R. Robins & G. C. Ray Field Guide Atlantic Coast Fishes N. Amer. 19 Mackerel sharks are typically pelagic and oceanic, usually found at or near the surface.
mackerel-skied adj. having or characterized by a mackerel sky.
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1921 W. de la Mare Mem. Midget xxxviii. 255 One mackerel-skied afternoon, Mrs. Monnerie and I and Susan were returning across the Park.
mackerel sky n. a sky dappled with rows of small white fleecy clouds (cirrocumulus or high altocumulus), resembling the pattern of scales on a mackerel's back.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > [noun] > a cloud > cumulus > cirro-cumulus > sky covered with
mackerel sky1667
1667 T. Sprat Hist. Royal-Soc. 177 Let Water'd signifie a Sky that has many high thin and small Clouds, looking like water'd Tabby, called in some places a Mackeril Sky.
1772 G. White Jrnl. 4 Apr. (1970) v. 49 Mackril sky, wheel round the sun.
1883 R. H. Scott Elem. Meteorol. 126 Small detached rounded masses [of cloud]..like the markings of a mackerel, whence the name ‘mackerel sky’.
1987 C. Thubron Behind Wall iii. 69 The afternoon had softened under a mackerel sky.
mackerel-snapper n. U.S. slang rare (derogatory) a Roman Catholic (alluding to the Catholic tradition of eating fish on Fridays).
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society > faith > sect > Christianity > Roman Catholicism > person > [noun]
papist1528
Romanist1534
Roman1537
Romist1543
papistic1545
popestant1549
flesh-maker1551
mass-monger1551
Romish1551
Pope catholicc1554
popeling1563
catholic1570
Romish Catholic1571
popera1577
Pope worshipper1579
papane1581
Roman Catholic1581
Cacolike1582
Cartholic1582
papisha1595
Babylonian1603
papal1611
popinian1613
Papalin1616
Romulist1620
papicolist1633
western1640
papagan1641
universalist1644
red-letter man1677
RC1691
Azymite1728
papalist1752
craw-thumper1786
catholicist1812
papisher1817
pontifical1832
Romanite1839
dogan1847
mickey1851
redneck1852
mackerel-snatcher1855
Latin1867
Romanensian1885
Roman candle1897
Mick1902
Mick Dooley1905
Mickey Doo1905
left-footer1911
Pape1927
right-footer1929
Doolan1940
tyke1941
Tim1958
mackerel-snapper1960
Teague1971
Mickey Doolan1972
1960 H. Wentworth & S. B. Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 330/1 Mackerel-snapper.
1978 J. Carroll Mortal Friends ii. iv. 175 Who wouldn't be glum working for a mackerel-snapper who'd betray his people by coming out for a Protestant patrician over one of his own?
1990 T. Robbins Skinny Legs & All 161 Both Ellen Cherry and Buddy surveyed St. Patrick's... ‘Well, what are you doin' here? In front of the doors through which pass the richest mackerel-snappers in New York City?’
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society > faith > sect > Christianity > Roman Catholicism > person > [noun]
papist1528
Romanist1534
Roman1537
Romist1543
papistic1545
popestant1549
flesh-maker1551
mass-monger1551
Romish1551
Pope catholicc1554
popeling1563
catholic1570
Romish Catholic1571
popera1577
Pope worshipper1579
papane1581
Roman Catholic1581
Cacolike1582
Cartholic1582
papisha1595
Babylonian1603
papal1611
popinian1613
Papalin1616
Romulist1620
papicolist1633
western1640
papagan1641
universalist1644
red-letter man1677
RC1691
Azymite1728
papalist1752
craw-thumper1786
catholicist1812
papisher1817
pontifical1832
Romanite1839
dogan1847
mickey1851
redneck1852
mackerel-snatcher1855
Latin1867
Romanensian1885
Roman candle1897
Mick1902
Mick Dooley1905
Mickey Doo1905
left-footer1911
Pape1927
right-footer1929
Doolan1940
tyke1941
Tim1958
mackerel-snapper1960
Teague1971
Mickey Doolan1972
1855 in Calif. Hist. Soc. Q. 9 (1930) 168 Mackerel-snatchers…Yankees..[and] abolitionists.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Scombroidei (mackerel) > [noun] > family Scombridae > genus Thunnus (tuna) > member of
mackerel-sture1768
tuna1881
kawakawa1887
ahi1892
bluefin1909
big-eye1957
1768 J. Robertson Jrnl. 4 July in D. M. Henderson & J. H. Dickson Naturalist in Highlands (1994) iii. 77 Frequently they entangle in their nets of Fish called the makerel Stoore, one of them will fill a herring barrel.
1879 T. Satchell Provis. Index Fish Names 4 Thynnus vulgaris..Mackrelsture, Ton? Tunny.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2000; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
mackereln.2
/ˈmak(ə)rəl/, /ˈmak(ə)rl̩/, U.S. /ˈmæk(ə)rəl/α. late Middle English–1500s makerel, late Middle English–1500s makerell, late Middle English–1600s macquerel, late Middle English–1700s maquerel, 1600s mackarell, 1600s mackerelle, 1600s macrell, 1600s makareele, 1600s maquerell, 1600s maquerelle, 1600s–1700s mackarel, 1600s– mackerel; also Scottish pre-1700 macquerel, pre-1700 macrel, pre-1700 macrell, pre-1700 makerauis (plural), pre-1700 makerel, pre-1700 makrel, pre-1700 makrell, pre-1700 mequereaulx (plural).
β. 1600s maquerela, 1600s maquerella.
slang.
A procurer or procuress; a pimp.
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society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > pimping or procuring > procurer of either sex
bawd1362
bawdstrot1362
ribibec1405
mackerela1475
pandarous1562
procurer1601
macrioa1632
maquereau1898
sexploiter1942
nookie-bookie1943
a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) 13478 Glotonye: Yiff thow me calle..Lyk as I am, A Bocheresse, Or in ffrench..I am callyd a Makerel, Whos offyce..Ys in ynglysshe bauderye.
1483 W. Caxton tr. Caton B vij Nyghe hys hows dwellyd a maquerel or bawde.
a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) iv. Prol. 192 Sic poyd makrellis for Lucifer bene leche.
1584 King James VI & I Ess. Prentise Poesie sig. Diij I no wais can, vnwet my cheekes, beholde My sisters made by Frenchemen macquerels olde.
?a1610 A. Montgomerie Poems (1887) 124 Quhy maks thou makrels of the modest Muses.
1615 T. Overbury et al. New & Choise Characters with Wife (6th impr.) sig. I3v (heading) A Maquerela, in plain English, a Bawd.
1630 J. Taylor Great Eater of Kent in Wks. i. 143/1 Some get their liuing..by tayles, as Maquerellaes, Concubines, Curtezanes [etc.].
1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ ii. xxiv. 47 The Pander did his office, but brought him a Citizen clad in damoisells apparell, so she and her Maquarell were paid accordingly.
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Mackarel, a bawd, from the French maquerel.
1935 N. Ersine Underworld & Prison Slang 52 Mack, mackerel, a pimp.
1942 E. Paul Narrow Street xx. 165 Pierre, he believed, would now put that foreign menace and her mackerel in their places and spend all his evenings with him.
1981 R. Horricks in P. Gammond & R. Horricks Big Bands 15 Hundreds of ‘night birds’ and their ‘mackerels’ and other vice-pushers were sent packing.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1c1300
n.2a1475