rifle fishn.
/ˈrʌɪf(ə)l ˌfɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈraɪf(ə)l ˌfɪʃ/, Australian English /ˈrɑef(ə)l ˌfɪʃ/ Australian.
Any of several archerfishes (genus Toxotes). Cf. archer n. 5, jaculator n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Percoidei > [noun] > member of family Toxotidae (archer)
jaculator1765
shooting-fish1803
archer1834
rifle fish1897
1897 Sc. Geogr. Mag. 13 303 I have seen the Rifle-fish thus strike its prey at a distance of several feet.
1906 D. G. Stead Fishes Austral. 95 One species of this family is found on the coast of Queensland, where it is known by the name of Rifle-Fish (Toxotes jaculator).
1973 V. Serventy Desert Walkabout 81 These archer or rifle fish have a central hole left when the mouth closes. The gills can be compressed and this sends a jet of water along a groove in the palate out of the hole, into the air to distances of four or five feet.
2002 L. Ford in D. B. Rose Country Heart 97 In the floodwaters there's rifle fish.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1897