sharkn.1
/ʃɑːk/, U.S. /ʃɑrk/ 1.
a. A selachian fish of the sub-order Squali of the order Plagiostomi; in popular language chiefly applied to the large voracious fishes of this suborder, as the genera Carcharodon, Carcharias, etc.
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the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Pleurotremata > [noun] > member of (shark)
shark1569
hay-fish1613
sea-shark1655
sea-panther1668
beam-fish1742
squalus1753
water-lawyer1794
squaloid1836
Noah's Ark1945
Noah1965
1569 in Coll. Black-letter Ballads & Broadsides (1867) 147 Ther is no proper name for it [a ‘marueilous straunge Fishe’] that I knowe, but that sertayne men of Captayne Haukinses doth call it a sharke.
1589 J. Sparke in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations iii. 528 Many sharks or Tuberons..came about the ships.
1622 R. Hawkins Observ. Voiage South Sea xix. 43 The Sharke or Tiberune, is a Fish like vnto those which wee call Dogge-fishes, but that he is farre greater.
1655 E. Terry Voy. E.-India 8 The Shark hath not this name for nothing; for he will make a morsell of any thing he can catch, master, and devour.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World iv. 79 We caught several great Sharks.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VI. 240 The shark is the dread of sailors in all hot climates.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iv. xi. 142 So darts the dolphin from the shark.
1873 J. W. Dawson Story Earth & Man vi. 158 Sharks, whose mouths are paved with flat teeth for crushing shells.
1879 E. P. Wright Animal Life 460 The True Sharks, or Carchariadæ, form a family most numerous in species, which are to be found in all seas.
1879 E. P. Wright Animal Life 464 This shark [the Australian Saw Fish, Pristiophorus cirratus] is said to attain a length of about twelve feet.
1883 Official Catal. Internat. Fisheries Exhib. (ed. 4) 381 There is no dearth of shark and scar-fish.
b. With defining word, as Gangetic shark n. Carcharias gangeticus, inhabiting some rivers. Greenland shark n. the North Atlantic shark Læmargus borealis. hammer-headed shark n. the Zygæna malleus.† long-tailed shark n. Obsolete the Fox-shark. sea-shark n. a shark of the high seas, esp. ‘a large shark of the family Lamnidæ’ ( Cent. Dict. 1891). spine shark n. the Picked Dogfish, Acanthias. spinous shark n. a shark of the genus Echinorhinus, as E. spinosus. white shark n. a man-eating shark, Carcharodon rondeleti.(See also angel shark n. at angel n. Compounds 2, basking adj. 2, blue adj. and n. Compounds 1b, cow n.1 Compounds 2, fox n. Compounds 2b, grey adj. and n. Compounds 1c(b), hound n.1 Compounds 2, mackerel n.1 Compounds 1, rock n.1 Compounds 2d, sand n.2 Compounds 2b, tiger n. Compounds 2, whale n., etc.).
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the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Pleurotremata > [noun] > member of (shark)
shark1569
hay-fish1613
sea-shark1655
sea-panther1668
beam-fish1742
squalus1753
water-lawyer1794
squaloid1836
Noah's Ark1945
Noah1965
the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Pleurotremata > [noun] > family Isuridae > member of genus Lamna
sea-shark1655
porbeagle1758
mackerel shark1819
the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Pleurotremata > [noun] > member of family Alopiidae (sea-ape)
sea-fox1605
thresher1605
sea-ape1607
sea ape1607
sea dog-fish1611
thrasher1638
thrasher fish1658
long-tailed shark1776
thresher fish1817
fox-shark1828
swingle-tail1839
the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Pleurotremata > [noun] > member of family Dalatiidae
Greenland shark1828
sleeper1882
cookie cutter1976
the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Pleurotremata > [noun] > member of family Squalidae
centrine1661
shoveller1664
sagree1752
hoe1805
spine shark1836
skittle-dog1862
pricker1890
dog1924
the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Pleurotremata > [noun] > family Carcharinidae > member of genus Carcharias
white shark1673
lamia1728
Gangetic shark1879
sand-shark1882
1655 E. Terry Voy. E.-India 8 This Sea-shark is a Fish as bad in eating, as he is in quality.
1674 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 98 White Sharks.
1686 F. Willughby & J. Ray De Hist. Piscium Table B. 8 The blew Sharke Galeus glaucus Rond.
1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 301 The balance fish and the hammerheaded shark.
1769 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (new ed.) III. iv. 78 The Basking Shark... This species has been long known to the inhabitants of the south and west of Ireland.
1776 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (ed. 4, octavo) III. iv. 97 Long-Tailed Shark.
1776 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (ed. 4, octavo) III. iv. 104 Shark..Beaumaris.
1804 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. V. 334 Spotted shark.
1804 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. V. 339 Dusky shark.
1804 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. V. 346 Grey shark.
1823 Ld. Byron Island iv. ix. 69 His..mates..Or deemed him mad, or prey to the blue shark.
1828 J. Fleming Hist. Brit. Animals 166 Scymnus borealis. Greenland Shark.
1836 W. Buckland Geol. & Mineral. I. xiv. 290 The common Dog-Fish, or Spine Shark (Spinax Acanthias, Cuv.).
1873 T. Gill Catal. Fishes East Coast N. Amer. 35 Reniceps tiburo...Shovel-head shark.
1879 E. P. Wright Animal Life 460 The Gangetic Shark (Carcharias gangeticus).
1879 E. P. Wright Animal Life 464 The Spinous Shark (Echinorhinus spinosus) is a rare British fish.
1881 Cassell's Nat. Hist. V. 31 The Grey Shark is sometimes eleven or twelve feet long.
1886 Günther in Encycl. Brit. XXI. 776/2 Hammerheaded Sharks (Zygæna) are sharks in which the anterior portion of the head is produced into a lobe on each side, the extremity of which is occupied by the eye.
c. fresh-water shark n. a jocular name for the pike, alluding to its voracity.
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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > family Esocidae (pikes) > [noun] > esox lucius (true pike)
hakedeOE
pike1314
ged1324
water wolfa1398
luce14..
pike fish1494
lucetc1550
wolf1555
lucern1615
river wolf1655
jack fish1659
luscio1680
lupus1706
pickerel1709
esox1774
fresh-water shark1799
pickering1842
northern1950
1799 tr. Laboratory (ed. 6) II. x. 267 The audacity and voraciousness of this fish [sc. the pike] justly entitle him to the name which he has acquired of the fresh-water shark.
1902 Daily Chron. 16 Dec. 8/4 Several fine pike have been captured lately, the heaviest..coming from a lake at Redhill, the ‘freshwater shark’ scaling 21lb. 2oz.
d. transferred. Nautical slang. A sardine.
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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > subclass Actinopterygii > order Clupeiformes > [noun] > family Clupeidae and herrings > sardine
sardinec1430
shark1916
Pacific sardine1947
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > seafood > [noun] > fish > cured fish > fish preserved in oil
sardinec1430
shadine1782
shark1916
1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin viii. 144 There was a peculiar tang in the air... He found out afterwards that it emanated from various sardine-preserving factories, and the discovery put him off canteen ‘sharks’ for quite a week.
2. figurative.attributive.1904 Shuddick How to arrange with Creditors 31 Another gentleman who is to be avoided at creditors' meetings is the shark accountant.† b. spec. (See quots.) Obsolete.
a. (Cf. shark n.2) Applied to persons, with allusion to the predatory habits and voracity of the shark; one who enriches himself by taking advantage of the necessities of others; a rapacious usurer, an extortionate landlord or letter of lodgings, etc., a financial swindler.
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the mind > possession > taking > extortion > [noun] > one who
wringera1300
askera1325
extortionerc1375
exactor1382
scaffer?a1513
shaver1534
caterpillar1541
bloodsucker?1555
suck-purse1586
griper1587
extortor1590
exacter1596
extorter1605
barathrum1609
wreather1648
shark1713
vampire1741
bleeder1846
flayer1865
extortionist1885
Shylock1894
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > robber > spoiler or plunderer > [noun]
riflera1350
ravenerc1384
pillerc1385
preyerc1390
raptora1398
peelera1425
despoiler1467
spulyierc1475
pillardc1485
ruggerc1485
pollera1513
booty-fellow1530
spoiler1535
caterpillar1541
kitea1556
ransacker?1576
predator1581
lurdan1589
worm1591
scraper1598
pillager?1611
ravager1611
bird of preya1616
depredator1626
plunderer1639
expilator1658
shark1713
depredationist1828
spoliator1831
rapiner1843
ravisher1851
1713 R. Steele in Guardian 4 June 1/1 The Sharks, who prey upon the Inadvertency of young Heirs.
1804 Naval Chron. 12 249 The slopsellers, and other sharks, at this port.
1832 G. Downes Lett. from Continental Countries I. 385 Our guide, a genuine shark, did his best to defraud his brethren, and thereby secure the entire fee.
1858 A. Trollope Three Clerks I. iii. 58 He expected to pay £200 a year for his board and lodging, which he thought might as well go to his niece as to some shark, who would probably starve him.
1886 C. E. Pascoe London of To-day (ed. 3) xix. 187 Brighton is less plagued with ‘sharks’ than seaside resorts usually are.
1904 Shuddick How to arrange with Creditors 35 The..simplest way of checking the rapacity of the money-lending shark.
1907 H. Wyndham Flare of Footlights xxx Even to his untrained eye several of them [i.e. theatrical advertisements] obviously emanated from sharks.
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the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > pickpocket or cutpurse > [noun] > pickpocket
fig-boyc1555
foister1585
foist1591
pickpocket1591
bung1600
diver1608
pocket-picker1622
pocketeerc1626
bung-nipper1659
file1673
filer1674
shark1707
hoister1708
knuckle1781
knuckler1801
buzzgloak1819
cly-faker1819
fingersmith1819
knuck1819
fogle hunter1821
buzzman1832
nobbler1839
wire1851
gonoph1853
wirer1857
dip1859
moll-tooler1859
buzzer1862
hook1863
snotter1864
tool1865
pocket-cutter1885
dipper1889
pogue-hunter1896
pick1902
finger1925
whizz1925
whizzer1925
prat diggera1931
whizz-boy1931
whizz-man1932
reefer1935
1707 J. Stevens tr. F. de Quevedo Comical Wks. (1709) 242 A meer Shark or Pick-pocket.
1788 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue (ed. 2) at Shark Sharks; the first order of pick-pockets. Bow-street term, a.d. 1785.
c. A customs officer; also plural the press-gang.
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society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > shipping dues > [noun] > collector of
waiter1473
custom house waiter1649
tidesman1667
tide-supervisor1684
tide-waiter1700
tide-surveyor1725
shark1785
custom house official1831
customs official1858
society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > group with special function or duty > [noun] > recruiting party
press-gang1693
recruiting party1752
shark1828
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Shark... Also a custom house officer, or tide waiter.
1796 E. Hamilton Lett. Hindoo Rajah (1811) II. 52 The loss you had sustained from the sharks of the custom-house.
1828 D. Jerrold Ambrose Gwinett i. iii Gil. A word with you—the sharks are out to-night. Label. The sharks? Gil. Ay, the blue-jackets—the press-gang.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 384/1 They..look mysteriously around to see if there be any of ‘them ere Custom-house sharks afloat’.
1866 ‘M. Twain’ Lett. from Hawaii (1967) 81 The professional ‘sharks’ in New Bedford and New London who furnish crews to ships.
d. Nautical. A lawyer.
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society > law > legal profession > lawyer > [noun]
lawyer1377
man of lawc1405
practiserc1450
jurist1481
lawman1535
practitioner1576
man of the long coat1579
(a gentleman) toward the law1592
gownsman1627
law-driver1640
long-robe man1654
green bag1699
flycatcher1708
homme d'affaires1717
jet1728
law-solicitor1738
shark1806
blue bag1817
law-person1819
law-gentleman1837
maître1883
lip1929
1806 Port Folio 17 May 304/1 I got plenty of promises, Latin, and jaw, And who ever got more from a lawyer? Of the sport I got sick, so threw up the game, For my cash by the sharks had got eaten.
1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack xxvii. 189 I'm what the sailors call a shark, that is, I'm a lawyer.
e. U.S. College slang. A highly intelligent or able student. ? Obsolete.
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1895 W. C. Gore in Inlander Dec. 111 Shark,..a person who is very bright either in a general way or (more often) in some particular line of work.
1903 Williams College Class Book 29 ‘Dido’ is a Math. shark of the first water.
1909 Springfield (Mass.) Weekly Republican 8 July 12 The ‘shark’ does well in his lessons, but recognizes that study is the first thing in college. ‘Sharks’ play games.
1914 N.Y. Evening Post 5 Jan. The..‘shark’ known to the American college world; primarily, the student who devours and digests learning with ease..and, secondarily, one who excels in any line of activity.
1920 S. Lewis Main St. iv. 47 Ella is our shark at elocuting.
3. Entomology. Any moth of the genus Cucullia (formerly Noctua); there are several varieties as camomile, tansy, lettuce, mugwort shark.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Noctuidae > genus Noctua or Cucullia > member of
shark1819
shark-moth1819
spectacle1819
noctua1826
1819 G. Samouelle Entomologist's Compend. 418 Noctua umbratica... The large Pale Shark.
1819 G. Samouelle Entomologist's Compend. 419 N. Tanaceti. The Tansy Shark. N. Lactucæ. The Lettuce Shark. N. Lucifuga. The large Dark Shark.
1869 E. Newman Illustr. Nat. Hist. Brit. Moths 436.
1890 E. B. Poulton Colours of Animals iv. 58 The appearance of splinters of wood is also often suggested by moths such as the ‘Sharks’ (Cucullia).
Compounds
General attributive. C1.
a.
shark-bite n.
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1888 Daily News 25 Dec. 5/2 Death by shark-bite.
shark-fisher n.
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1897 ‘M. Twain’ Following Equator xiii. 142 He was passing by a nodding shark-fisher.
shark genus n.
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1822 J. M. Good Study Med. IV. 7 The squalus, or shark genus.
shark-hook n.
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1849 G. Cupples Green Hand iv, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Sept. 307/1 I hauled up the shark-hook from astern.
shark kind n.
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1758 W. Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornwall 265 Of the shark kind..we have the sea-fox, Vulpecula or Simia marina of authors.
shark-liver) oil n.
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1868 J. F. Royle & F. W. Headland Man. Materia Med. (ed. 5) 745 (note) Shark-liver Oil has been lately imported into Liverpool.
shark oil n.
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1615 R. Cocks Diary (1883) I. 11 And we bought 40 gants of shark oyle for the junk.
1888 W. T. Brannt Pract. Treat. Animal & Veg. Fats & Oils 310 Shark oil, prepared from the livers of various species of the shark.
shark-steak n.
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1847 H. Melville Omoo xiv. 65 A shark-steak and be hanged to you!
1885 A. Brassey In Trades 209 The pilot..telling me..what excellent things shark-steaks were.
shark trap n.
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1896 A. J. Butler tr. F. Ratzel Hist. Mankind I. 254 Fig. Shark-trap with wooden float, from Fiji.
b.
shark-fishing n.
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1852 G. C. Mundy Our Antipodes I. xii. 391 Shark fishing is nearly the best sport to be had in New South Wales.
1914 Chambers's Jrnl. Feb. 89/1 Shark-fishing is regarded as being as much a trade as a sport.
1976 L. Deighton Twinkle, twinkle, Little Spy xi. 117 Is she interested in stud farms or shark fishing?
shark-infested adj.
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1978 Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. a 17/1 Rescue crews Saturday searched shark-infested waters for the bodies of..crewmen killed in the crash of a..domestic airliner.
c.
shark-like adj.
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1885 W. T. Hornaday Two Years in Jungle xxii. 257 A very strange..shark-like fish.
shark-mouthed adj.
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1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. iv. 69 Should you, by any chance, have a wish for what is in the baskets, or barrows, of these shark-mouthed bawlers.
shark-proof adj.
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1923 ‘R. Daly’ Enchanted Island x. 92 She had been bathing in the shark-proof palisade below.
1967 Coast to Coast 1965–6 162 Some evenings the Roebourne mob..would..swim in..our shark-proof pool beside the wharf.
C2. Special combinations:
shark-bait n. Australian colloquial a lone or daring swimmer well out from shore.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > water sports except racing > swimming > [noun] > specific type > participant
shark-bait1920
shark-baiter1924
skinny-dipper1963
1920 A. H. Adams Australians 177 Farther out in the deep water swam the venturous line of experts, technically known as ‘shark-bait’.
1937 K. S. Prichard Intimate Stranger i. 16 ‘Shark-bait’, boys and girls on the beaches called her, she was so daring. Always swimming out there beyond the reef.
shark-baiter n.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > water sports except racing > swimming > [noun] > specific type > participant
shark-bait1920
shark-baiter1924
skinny-dipper1963
1924 A. Wright Rung In iii. 31 It might be only some foolhardy ‘shark baiter’, as he heard the more venturesome of the bathers termed.
1965 Austral. Encycl. VIII. 82/2 Solitary bathers are more often attacked than groups, but the ‘shark-baiter’ farthest off shore is not necessarily the victim.
shark-baiting n.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > water sports except racing > swimming > [noun] > specific type
breaststroke1890
medley1913
surf1917
skinny-dip1947
skinny-dipping1947
shark-baiting1951
swim-in1960
synchro-swim1976
1951 D. Cusack & F. James Come in Spinner 221 I've given up shark-baiting. Mug's game.
1967 K. S. Prichard Subtle Flame 99 I'm no good at shark baiting.
shark-barrow n. ‘the egg-case of a shark; a sea-purse’ ( Funk's Stand. Dict. 1895).
shark-charmer n. one professing to protect the pearl-divers in Sri Lanka from sharks by incantations.
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the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [noun] > enchanter > specific types of
tree-enchanter1788
reim-kennar1821
shark-charmer1866
1866 Cornhill Mag. 14 169 The shark-charmer..is considered so indispensable to the fishery that he is paid by Government.
shark-fin n. the fin of a shark, considered a table delicacy by the Chinese.
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the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > seafood > [noun] > fish > cuts or parts of fish
jowlc1430
randa1432
poll1526
tailpiece1601
cod sound1699
fillet1725
shark-fin1793
skate-rumple1823
steak1883
flitch1884
shark's fin1933
toro1971
1793 J. Trapp tr. Rochon Voy. Madagascar 390 The Chinese pay likewise a liberal price for shark-fins.
shark-headed adj. the designation of a kind of screw.
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1861 C. Dickens Great Expectations xv, in All Year Round 26 Jan. 362/2 A gross or two of shark-headed screws for general use.
shark-header n. a screw of this kind.
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1861 C. Dickens Great Expectations xv, in All Year Round 26 Jan. 362/2 And shark-headers is open to misrepresentations.
shark-louse n. a parasitic crustacean infesting sharks.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > member of > parasitic or destructive > infesting sharks
shark-louse1850
1850 A. White List Specim. Crustacea Brit. Mus. 122 Dinemoura alata. Winged Shark-louse.
shark-moth n. = sense 3.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Noctuidae > genus Noctua or Cucullia > member of
shark1819
shark-moth1819
spectacle1819
noctua1826
1819 G. Samouelle Entomologist's Compend. 250 Noctua Tanaceti (shark moths).
shark net n. South African local a length of netting positioned off-shore to protect bathers from sharks; also shark netting.
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the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > [noun] > means of protection or defence > device or contrivance to protect a thing or person > other protective devices
bonnet1815
footguard1821
fall-breaker1883
patch1890
guard-board1898
interlock1934
shark netting1970
1970 Stud. in Eng. (Univ. Cape Town) 1 33 These bracelets were originally made out of shark netting. The surfer would dig his way out to the shark nets, cut himself a piece and tie it around his wrist.
1977 J. McClure Sunday Hangman ix. 95 The shark nets protecting the bathers off its [sc. Durban's] beaches.
shark-ray n. the angel-fish, also a rhinobatid or beaked ray.
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the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Pleurotremata > [noun] > angel-fish or monk-fish
monkfish1582
sea-monk1611
sea-devil1634
kingston1666
angelfish1668
skate1668
piper1673
mermaid fish1738
fiddle-fish1748
fiddler1750
monk1756
angel shark1776
shark-ray1836
puppy-fish1880
squat1884
sea-angel1891
the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Hypotremata > [noun] > member of family Rhinobatidae (guitar-fish)
shark-ray1836
rhinobatid1859
sand-shark1882
guitar-fish1905
1836 W. Yarrell Hist. Brit. Fishes II. 408 The Angel-fish..is also called Shark-Ray, from its partaking of the characters of both Shark and Ray.
1851 P. H. Gosse Nat. Hist.: Fishes 314 Rhinobatina. The Shark-rays.
1873 T. Gill Catal. Fishes East Coast N. Amer. 35 Squatina Dumerili... Angel-fish; shark-ray.
shark's fin n. = shark-fin n.; also in shark's fin soup n.
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the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > soup or pottage > [noun] > fish-soup
coulis1603
fish-broth1660
bisque1715
fish-soup1723
anchovy-cullis1725
shrimp gumbo1805
fish-chowder1838
lobster bisque1895
ukha1911
shark's fin soup1933
zuppa di pesce1961
fish-broo-
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > seafood > [noun] > fish > cuts or parts of fish
jowlc1430
randa1432
poll1526
tailpiece1601
cod sound1699
fillet1725
shark-fin1793
skate-rumple1823
steak1883
flitch1884
shark's fin1933
toro1971
1933 Gourmet's Bk. Food & Drink iii. 49 In his own country the Chinaman's evening meal is a somewhat variegated affair..and includes..shark's fins, cucumber, fish brawn.
c1938 Fortnum & Mason Price List 58/1 Soups..Sharks' Fins per bot. 7/6.
1966 Guardian 30 July 7/3 In the heart of Chinatown, shark's fin soup with crab sauce.
1978 Nagel's Encycl.-guide: China (ed. 3) 379 Sharks' fins need lengthy preparation, because they are bought dried.
shark's head n. a jocular name for the elongated prow of a grab.Apparently an isolated use.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > fore part of vessel > [noun] > types of bow
shark's head1831
spur-bow1877
spoon bow1902
1831 E. J. Trelawny Adventures Younger Son I. xxiv. 178 Knock the shark's head off her, and ship a bowsprit in its place.
sharkskin n. (a) the skin of sharks used for making shagreen, and also used for polishing, etc.; also attributive; (b) (i) a woven or warp-knitted fabric of wool, silk, or rayon with a smooth, slightly lustrous, finish; frequently attributive; (ii) an outfit made of this fabric.
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > [noun] > fish skin > of shark
sharkskin1851
shagreen1870
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from choice of fibres > [noun] > silk or woollen or man-made fibres
sharkskin1851
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > made from specific material > other > article of
linsey-woolsey1483
kelter1562
buffin1572
marry-muff1604
tiffany1606
camlet1623
grogram1633
pepper-and-salt1774
toilenette1790
zephyrine1820
feather-mail1843
alpaca1853
khaki1857
ramie1899
marocain1922
sharkskin1957
Ultrasuede1973
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick xv. 74 His account books bound in superior old shark-skin.
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick cxiii. 540 With matted beard, and swathed in a bristling shark-skin apron..Perth was standing between his forge and anvil.
1877 G. MacDonald Marquis of Lossie xlv What the final touches of the shark-skin are to the marble..that only can [etc.].
1932 C. Beaton Diary Mar. in Wandering Years (1961) xiii. 255 I bought vast quantities, at almost negligible cost, of football vests, exotic footgear, the scantiest shorts in all colours and in white sharkskin.
1944 R. Chandler Lady in Lake ii. 11 The man wore trunks and the woman what looked like a very daring white sharkskin bathing suit.
1957 L. Durrell Justine iii. 183 Now in his ice-smooth shark~skin with the scarlet cummerbund he seemed..the richest and most handsome of the city's bankers.
1974 D. Ramsay No Cause to Kill ii. 110 Ivy Eastbrook..in silk shirt and sharkskin trousers.
1979 E. Koch Good Night Little Spy ii. 6 During the winter he wore..five serge suits and two sharkskins.
shark's mouth n. Nautical (see quot. 1881); also ‘the opening for the breeching in the cascabel of a cannon’ ( Funk's Stand. Dict. 1895).
ΚΠ
1881 L. R. Hamersly Naval Encycl. Awning, the shark's mouth is an opening to accommodate the masts and stays abaft.
shark-sucker n. ‘any remora that adheres to sharks,’ esp. Echeneis naucrates.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Percoidei > [noun] > family Echeneidae (remoras) > member of (remora)
echeneis1481
remora1533
stay-ship1567
suck-stone1602
stop-ship1605
sea-lamprey1616
ship-halter1668
sucking-fish1697
sucker1753
suck-fish1753
shark-sucker1850
ship-holder1860
fisher-fish1867
sucker-fish1867
sea-lampern-
1850 A. White List Specim. Crustacea Brit. Mus. 124 Anthosoma Smithii, Bud-like Shark-Sucker.
shark-tooth n. (also shark's tooth) the tooth of a shark, also †= glossopetra n.; also attributive quasi-adj. in similative use; also in shark's teeth sword, shark's teeth weapon, a weapon armed with shark's teeth, in use among some pre-industrial peoples.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > parts of fish > [noun] > tooth or parts of tooth > fossil
shark-tooth1674
glossopetraa1684
ichthyodont1708
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > head and neck > [noun] > mouth > tooth or tusk > fossil tooth
shark-tooth1674
odontolite1819
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > club or stick > [noun] > armed club
masuelc1312
macec1325
maulc1325
mell1333
brogged staff1429
balk-staffc1460
malleta1500
quarterstaff?1560
sport staff1634
morgenstern1637
roundhead1643
morning star1684
patu patu1769
patuc1771
shell-stick1790
holy water sprinkler1816
mace-head1824
shark's teeth sword1845
taiaha1845
1674 M. Lister Let. 20 Nov. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1977) XI. 129 I have had out of the Isle of Shepy in the river of Thames very sharkes Teeth dug up there, wch could not well be sayd to be petrifyed.
1692 J. Ray Misc. Disc. v. 132 I might have added Sharks-teeth or Glossopetræ.
1845 C. H. Smith in Kitto's Cycl. Biblical Lit. I. at Arms Fig. 99 Sharks-teeth Sword.
1853 C. Kingsley Westward Ho! vi Jagged shark's-tooth rock.
1885 W. T. Hornaday Two Years in Jungle xxii. 257 They certainly are more like shark-teeth than spines.
1886 Guide Exhib. Galleries Brit. Mus. 216 The singular armour made of cocoanut fibre, worn by the natives [of Micronesia] as a protection against the shark's teeth weapons.
shark-toothed adj. applied to a tooth ornament suggesting shark's teeth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > sharp unevenness > [adjective] > having (a) sharp projection(s)
tootheda1387
tatteredc1394
beaked1589
toothy1611
beaking1679
spiked1681
sworded1681
pronged1707
spiky1720
teethful1729
sharp-pointed1748
spiculated1762
arrowy1791
nibbed1794
shark-toothed1794
tusky1830
spicant1867
spurry1875
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > arch > [adjective] > types of arch
schemed1715
rampant1725
surmounted1728
ox-eyed1736
round-headed1751
full-centred1756
rounded1757
shark-toothed1794
straight1812
spandrelled1813
keyed1822
full centre1837
ogival1841
ogived1845
subarcuated1849
bonnet-headed1850
ogeed1851
uncusped1859
voussoired1875
subordered1898
the world > life > the body > digestive or excretive organs > digestive organs > mouth > types or spec. teeth > [adjective] > sharp or strong
tooth-proof1654
shark-toothed1794
nimble-toothed1850
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [adjective] > likely to endanger health or life
breakneck1546
founderous1767
shark-toothed1935
1794 T. Dwight Greenfield Hill iii. 79 What stretches Avarice' gulphy maw, And opens wide her shark-tooth'd jaw.
1860 W. M. Thackeray Lazy Idle Boy in Roundabout Papers (1876) 3 The sacristan..espies the traveller eyeing..the old shark-toothed arch of his cathedral.
1935 C. Day Lewis Time to Dance & Other Poems 42 Over the shark-toothed Timor sea Lost their bearings.
Draft additions December 2002
slang. A lecherous person, esp. a man; a person actively seeking a sexual partner, esp. in a manner regarded as predatory. Cf. shark v.1This sense seems to have arisen independently from the sense recorded in quot. 1957 for sharkskin n. at Compounds 2, despite the similarity in meaning.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > lasciviousness or lust > [noun] > lascivious or lustful person > lecher
lecherc1175
lechererc1380
router1531
twigger1573
luxur1604
bitch-hunter1611
whorehopper1664
swinge-bow1675
tomcat1884
chippy chaser1887
alley cat1911
lech1943
stoata1960
shark1981
1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues Gloss. 378 Shark, man with a good line that women fall for.]
1981 N.Y. Times Mag. 15 Feb. 26/5 On a typical Saturday night, at a cocktail party somewhere in the ivy-covered halls of Wellesley College, one often finds ambitious young Harvard men who describe themselves as being on ‘shark mode’.
1993 Evening Standard 13 Oct. 11/3 Freshers guides tip you on the top pick-up joints..and warn of the so-called ‘sharks’, predatory second and third years who swim around first-week parties in search of freshers.
1995 .net Feb. 51/1 A woman will join in a conference, say, and immediately attract the attentions of one or more ‘sharks’, who'll flirt, flirt some more, and then send a volley of u2ues (personal messages within the scope of the BBS or talker).
1999 S. Stewart Sharking viii. 135 He was a notorious shark and his promiscuity rivalled even that of Dave Hardcore's.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† sharkn.2
Obsolete.
A worthless and impecunious person who gains a precarious living by sponging on others, by executing disreputable commissions, cheating at play, and petty swindling; a parasite; a sharper. In later use influenced by shark n.1 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > defrauder or swindler > [noun]
feature14..
frauderc1475
prowler1519
lurcher1528
defrauder1552
frauditor1553
taker-upc1555
verserc1555
fogger1564
Jack-in-the-box1570
gilenyer1590
foist1591
rutter1591
crossbiter1592
sharker1594
shark1600
bat-fowler1602
cheater1606
foister1610
operator1611
fraudsman1613
projector1615
smoke-sellera1618
decoy1618
firkera1626
scandaroon1631
snapa1640
cunning shaver1652
knight of industrya1658
chouse1658
cheat1664
sharper1681
jockey1683
rooker1683
fool-finder1685
rookster1697
sheep-shearer1699
bubbler1720
gyp1728
bite1742
swindler1770
pigeon1780
mace1781
gouger1790
needle1790
fly-by-night1796
sharp1797
skinner1797
diddler1803
mace cove1811
mace-gloak1819
macer1819
flat-catcher1821
moonlight wanderer1823
burner1838
Peter Funk1840
Funk1842
pigeoner1849
maceman1850
bester1856
fiddler1857
highway robber1874
bunco-steerer1875
swizzler1876
forty1879
flim-flammer1881
chouser1883
take-down1888
highbinder1890
fraud1895
Sam Slick1897
grafter1899
come-on1905
verneuker1905
gypster1917
chiseller1918
tweedler1925
rorter1926
gazumper1932
chizzer1935
sharpie1942
sharpster1942
slick1959
slickster1965
rip-off artist1968
shonky1970
rip-off merchant1971
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > a charlatan, fraudster > [noun] > a sharper, swindler
hawk1548
huckster1556
shifterc1562
coney-catcher1591
sharker1594
shark1600
bat-fowler1602
guller1602
gull-groper1602
poop-noddy1616
int1631
shirk1639
knight of industrya1658
hockettor1672
biter1680
sharper1681
duffer1735
sharp1797
diddler1803
chevalier of industry1807
flat-catcher1821
thimble-man1830
thimblerigger1831
thimblerig1839
riggerc1840
chevalier of fortune1867
flim-flammer1881
spiv1929
sharpie1942
shrewd1954
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > flattery or flattering > servile flattery or currying favour > [noun] > servile flatterer > parasite
clienta1393
lick-dishc1440
maunche present1440
scambler?a1513
smell-feast1519
parasite1539
hanger-on1549
parasitaster1552
waiter at the table1552
lick-trencher1571
hang-by1579
shadow1579
trencher-fly1590
trencher-friend1590
fawnguest1592
pot-hunter1592
lick-spigot1599
trencherman1599
shark1600
tub-hunter1600
zany1601
lick-box1611
by-hangera1626
cosherer1634
shirk1639
panlicker1641
clientelary1655
tantony1659
led friend1672
sponger1677
fetcher and carrier1751
myrmidon1800
trencher-licker1814
onhanger1821
tag-tail1835
sponge1838
lick-ladle1849
lick-platter1853
sucker1856
freeloader1933
bludger1938
ligger1977
joyrider1990
1600 B. Jonson Every Man out of his Humor Dram. Pers. sig. Aiv Shift. A Thredbare Sharke. One that neuer was Soldior, yet liues vpon lendings. His profession is skeldring and odling, his Banke Poules, and his Ware-house Pict-hatch. View more context for this quotation
1602 B. Jonson Poetaster iii. iv. sig. F2 Doe not wee serue a notable Sharke ? View more context for this quotation
c1604 Charlemagne (1938) i. 1 To giue attendance on ye full fedd guesse not on ye hungrye Sharke.
1616 B. Jonson Epicœne iv. iv, in Wks. I. 575 A very sharke, he set me i' the nicke t'other night at primero. View more context for this quotation
1628 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. xv. sig. D2v A Sharke..one whome all other meanes haue fayl'd, and hee now liues of himselfe.
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1664 (1955) III. 376 The master of it [sc. the lottery],..was in truth a meer shark.
1684 A. Wood Life & Times (1894) III. 108 Wright Croke..was posted up for a shark and coward in Day's coffey house.
1694 R. South 12 Serm. II. 487 And thus David's Messengers are sent back to him, like so many Sharks, and Runnagates.
Compounds
shark-gull n. ? one who is both knave and dupe.
ΚΠ
1604 T. Middleton Blacke Bk. C 4 Alas, poore Skark-Gull [sic], that put off is idle.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
† sharkn.3
Obsolete.
The action or an act of ‘sharking’. to live upon the shark: to live by sharking.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > defrauding or swindling > defraud or swindle [verb (intransitive)]
to pull a finchc1386
to bore a person's nose?1577
to wipe a person's nose1577
verse1591
lurch1593
to grope a gull1594
cheat1647
to lick (another's) fingers1656
to live upon the shark1694
sharp1709
fineer1765
to pluck a pigeon1769
swindle1769
to run a game1894
to sell (a person) a pup1901
scam1963
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > act fraudulently, cheat [verb (intransitive)] > as way of life
shift1580
shark1608
shirk1633
to live upon the shark1694
spiv1947
1694 R. South 12 Serm. II. 290 Wretches who live upon the Shark, and other men's Sins,..getting their very Bread by the Damnation of Souls.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
sharkv.1
/ʃɑːk/, U.S. /ʃɑrk/ 1. intransitive.† a. to shark on or upon: to prey like a shark upon; to victimize, sponge upon, swindle; to oppress by extortion. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > extortion > practise extortion [verb (intransitive)]
extortion1502
poll1521
shave1528
extort1529
to shark on or upona1596
a1596 Sir Thomas More (1911) ii. iv. 106 For other ruffians, as their fancies wrought,..Woold shark on you, and men lyke rauenous fishes Woold feed on on another.
1628 G. Wither Britain's Remembrancer iv. 895 Then citizens were sharkt, and prey'd upon.
a1652 R. Brome New Acad. ii. i. 28 in Five New Playes (1659) This woman..is vertuous And too discreet for him to shark upon.
a1668 W. Davenant Wks. (1673) i. 304 Who sharkt on the People much more then the Crown.
b. To depend on or practise fraud or the arts of a ‘shark’, parasite, or sharper; to live by shifts and stratagems. Often to shark for (something).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > act fraudulently, cheat [verb (intransitive)] > as way of life
shift1580
shark1608
shirk1633
to live upon the shark1694
spiv1947
1608 T. Middleton Mad World, my Masters v. sig. Hv I name it gently to you, I terme it neither Pilfer, Cheat, nor Sharke.
1612 B. Jonson Alchemist i. i. sig. b3 Slid, proue to day, who shall sharke best. View more context for this quotation
1615 J. Taylor Revenge in Wks. (1630) ii. 144/1 Couldst thou find no other way, To Sharke, or Shift, or Cony-catch for mony, But to make me thy Asse, thy Foole, thy Cony?
1616 J. Smith Descr. New Eng. 33 Who would..by relating newes of others actions, sharke here or there for a dinner or supper?
1633 J. Hart Κλινικη iii. xxiv. 326 Hee had not a morsell of bread..but what he begged, or else sharked for.
1635 L. Foxe North-west Fox sig. M4 He see him doe nothing but sharke up and downe.
1641 J. Trapp Theologia Theol. 365 To shift and sharke in every bie-corner for comfort.
c1672 A. Wood Life (1891) I. 167 Others that..had no money were forced to shark and live as opportunity served.
c1672 A. Wood Life (1891) I. 179 To row hastily from it [the little devil], and leave it to shark for it self.
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables ccxli. 210 It was Nature that taught This Boy to Shark.
1709 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 27 Sept. (O.H.S.) II. 269 He sneaks and sharks about at Bathe.
1765 C. Johnstone Chrysal IV. i. xviii. 122 It is only slipping a puffer or two of quality at them, enough of whom come sharking to every sale for that purpose only.
1812 W. Irving Hist. N.Y. (ed. 2) II. vi. ii. 78 Those vagabond cosmopolites who shark [1809 shirk] about the world, as if they had no right or business in it.
1837 T. Carlyle Diamond Necklace vi, in Fraser's Mag. Jan. 16/2 Thou must hawk and shark to and fro, from anteroom to anteroom.
2. transitive.† c. To swindle (a person). Obsolete. rare.
a. to shark up: to collect hastily (a body of persons, etc.) without regard to selection. Now archaic, as an echo of the Shakespeare passage.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (transitive)] > assemble (people or animals) > hastily
to shark up1603
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. i. 97 Yong Fortenbrasse,..Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there, Sharkt vp a sight of lawlesse Resolutes.
1827 W. Gifford in J. Ford Dram. Wks. 164 (note) What a detestable set of characters has Ford here sharked up for the exercise of his fine talents!
1900 Edinb. Rev. July 209 The hard fisted ruffian first of all sharks up the crew out of hospitals and gambling-dens.
b. To steal, pilfer, or obtain by underhand or cheating means. Usually const. from, out of, also with adverb away, out. Now archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > defrauding or swindling > perpetrate (a swindle) [verb (transitive)] > take by swindling
wipec1000
fleece1537
fraud1570
shark1613
boba1616
foola1616
rook1647
sharp1707
escroc1738
swindle1779
skelder1822
1613 T. Adams Heauen & Earth Reconcil'd 6 If to digge they are too lazie,..to cheate want witte, and to liue, meanes, then thrust in for a roome in the Church; and once crope in at the window, make haste to sharke out a liuing.
1650 J. Milton Εικονοκλαστης (ed. 2) i. 15 Having sharkd them [sc. prayers] from the mouth of a Heathen worshipper.
1653 H. Holcroft tr. Procopius Persian Wars i. 30 in tr. Procopius Hist. Warres Justinian John was irksome to all the world,..sharking all kind of booty.
1665 A. Wood Life & Times (1892) II. 49 He..pretended to joke and play the rogue; and at length shark away a cloak, coat, or something else, when mass was done.
1896 A. Dobson 18th Cent. Vignettes 3rd Ser. viii. 166 His classical quotations were not..sharked out of Burton's ‘Anatomy’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > defrauding or swindling > perpetrate (a swindle) [verb (transitive)] > defraud or swindle
defraud1362
deceivec1380
plucka1500
lurch1530
defeata1538
souse1545
lick1548
wipe1549
fraud1563
use1564
cozen1573
nick1576
verse1591
rooka1595
trim1600
skelder1602
firk1604
dry-shave1620
fiddle1630
nose1637
foista1640
doa1642
sharka1650
chouse1654
burn1655
bilk1672
under-enter1692
sharp1699
stick1699
finger1709
roguea1714
fling1749
swindle1773
jink1777
queer1778
to do over1781
jump1789
mace1790
chisel1808
slang1812
bucket1819
to clean out1819
give it1819
to put in the hole1819
ramp1819
sting1819
victimize1839
financier1840
gum1840
snakea1861
to take down1865
verneuk1871
bunco1875
rush1875
gyp1879
salt1882
daddle1883
work1884
to have (one) on toast1886
slip1890
to do (a person) in the eye1891
sugar1892
flay1893
to give (someone) the rinky-dink1895
con1896
pad1897
screw1900
short-change1903
to do in1906
window dress1913
ream1914
twist1914
clean1915
rim1918
tweedle1925
hype1926
clip1927
take1927
gazump1928
yentz1930
promote1931
to take (someone) to the cleaners1932
to carve up1933
chizz1948
stiff1950
scam1963
to rip off1969
to stitch up1970
skunk1971
to steal (someone) blind1974
diddle-
a1650 T. May Old Couple (1658) v. 42 But think not..that I sharke, Or cheat him in it.
3. dialect. (See ). Cf. shirk v.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > escape > [verb (intransitive)] > by wile or artifice
atwrenchc1200
shark1828
1828–32 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) To shark out, to slip out or escape by low artifices (Vulgar).
1844 W. Barnes Poems Rural Life in Dorset Dial. Gloss. Shark or Shurk off, to sneak off softly from shame or an apprehension of danger.
Draft additions December 2002
intransitive. British slang. Chiefly of a man: to be in active pursuit of a sexual partner, esp. at a social gathering and in a manner regarded as predatory. Usually in present participle.
ΚΠ
1992 Daily Tel. 6 May 15/8 I do know one person who is sharking for Britain..but on the whole there is very little sex and no drugs.
1995 Unique June 21/1 There were also steaming groups of 20-year old blokes..sharking for talent.
1998 Scotl. on Sunday (Electronic ed.) 10 May Apart from sharking around clubs, pubs and launderettes how else do you meet your soulmates?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† sharkv.2
Obsolete. rare.
transitive. To cut or tear.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > tearing or tearing apart > tear [verb (transitive)]
tearc1000
renta1325
reavea1400
lacerate?a1425
raise?a1425
rivea1425
shearc1450
unsoundc1450
ranch?a1525
rechec1540
pilla1555
wreathe1599
intertear1603
shark1611
vulture1628
to tear at1848
spalt1876
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Coigniaux, a kind of small, and bright-greene vermine, which sharke off, and cut in peeces, the tendrels and grapes, of Vines.
1614 A. Gorges tr. Lucan Pharsalia vii. 303 Neither could they [the birds] so sharke and share The flesh, whereby the bones were bare.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
sharkv.3
1. intransitive. To fish for sharks ( Cent. Dict. 1891). Only as ˈsharking n.2 [formed after fishing, etc.] shark-fishing; also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing for type of fish > fish for type of fish [verb (intransitive)] > for others
sharking1860
shad1863
sprat1863
hake1868
drum-fish1879
cod1881
snoek1913
1860 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 3) Sharking, fishing for sharks. A favorite sport in the waters of Narragansett Bay.
1881 A. J. Northrup 'Sconset Cottage Life xi. 100 No summer experience at 'Sconset is complete without..one ‘sharking’ expedition.
1882 E. K. Godfrey Island of Nantucket 329 A visit can be made to the ‘sharking grounds’.
1937 J. W. Day Sporting Adventure 219 The Isle of Arran, off the Scottish coast, is the centre from which the new sport is being followed. A fishing-smack has been fitted out specially there for parties who wish to go out ‘sharking’.
1960 Sunday Express 24 July 13/5 Good sharking!
2. To swim with the back fin above the surface of the water.
ΚΠ
1923 Chambers's Jrnl. 674/1 Trout were ‘sharking’—that is, progressing through the water with their back fin above it.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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n.11569
n.21600n.31694
v.1a1596v.21611
v.31860