razor-fishn.
/ˈreɪzəfɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈreɪzərˌfɪʃ/ 1. Any of several fishes; esp. (a) a wrasse of the genus Xyrichtys, having a narrow head enabling it to burrow in sand; (b) a fish of the family Centriscidae of the tropical Indo-Pacific, having a long snout and a laterally compressed body covered in thin bony plates, and swimming with the head pointing downwards.The interpretation of quot. 1440 is unclear; alternatively it could be interpreted as showing sense 2 or could represent an entirely different animal.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Labrioidei (wrasse) > [noun] > member of
razor-fish1753
stranger1875
senorita-fish1882
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 424 Rasowre fysche, rasorius.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Novacula piscis, the rasor-fish..the name of a sea-fish caught in the Mediterranean, and some other seas.
1763 R. Brookes New Syst. Nat. Hist. III. 150 The Razor fish..has a very large head, but compressed, as well as the whole body, and there is scarce any thing that can be called a snout.
1883 Bull. U.S. National Mus. No. 27. 436 Xyrichthys lineatus... Razor-fish. West Indies; west Florida.
1975 A. Wheeler Fishes of World 147/1 Centriscus scutatus Razorfish.
1984 Biotrop Spec. Publ. No. 22. 51 (title) Predator-prey relationship of the sea-urchin Diadema setosum and the razor fish Aeoliscus strigatus under tank conditions.
1994 Environmental Biol. Fishes 41 403 Green razorfish are Caribbean wrasses that live in harems on shallow sand or seagrass beds.
2. = razor shell n.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Siphonida > sinu-pallialia > family Solenidae
razorc1311
spout1525
spout-fish1594
razor-fish1602
sheath-fish1602
hagfish1611
pitot1611
solen1661
sheath shell1712
sheatha1717
razor shell1752
knife-handle1755
sea-pencil1755
razor-shell clam1792
long clam1811
scabbard razor-shell1813
scimitar razor-shell1819
spout shell1848
scimitar1855
razor clam1860
1602 R. Carew Surv. Cornwall i. f. 32 The Sheath, or Razor-fish, resembleth in length and bignesse a mans finger.
1637 T. Morton New Eng. Canaan ii. vii. 91 Raser fishes there are.
1703 J. Petiver Musei Petiveriani ix. 88 Solen nostres vulgaris... The Sheath-fish..or Razor-fish.
1794 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. XIII. 336 Shell-fish abound here, such as limpets, muscles, wilks, clams, spout fish, or razor-fish, lobsters, crabs, &c.
1803 F. W. Blagdon tr. P. S. Pallas Trav. Southern Provinces Russ. Empire II. 466 I have nowhere met with any rare sea-muscles; only the razor-fish [Ger. Messerhefte], or Solen, of the Bosphorus.
1884 E. Ingersoll in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 707 The Californian Razor-fish (Siliqua patula) is also edible.
1950 E. Paul Springtime in Paris xi. 214 Sampling eagerly the oysters, clams, palourdes, cockles, mussels, snails, razor-fish or sea-urchins.
1989 Scotsman 26 May 13 Razor fish, among other molluscs, are the animal's natural feeding in the wild.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1440