swordfishn.
1.
a. The common name of Xiphias gladius, a large fish of the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Pacific, having the upper jaw prolonged into a sword-like weapon; the flesh is used for food. Also extended to other species of the genus Xiphias and related genera.Also applied locally to several fishes of slender elongated form, as the garfish or garpike ( Belone vulgaris), the butter-fish or spotted gunnel (Centronotus or Murænoides gunnellus), also called swordick n., and the cutlass-fish or silvery hair-tail ( Trichiurus lepturus). Also, the grampus or killer ( Orca gladiator), a ferocious toothed cetacean.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Scombroidei (mackerel) > [noun] > family Xiphiidae (swordfish) > xiphias gladius (swordfish)
swordfishc1400
gladius?1527
xiph1572
monoceros1590
xiphias1590
sea-emperor1672
rapier-fish1681
xiphiad1859
c1400 Brut cclvii. 523 This yere were taken iiij gret ffisshes bitwen Greth & London: one was called mors marine, þe secund, A swerd fyssh, & þe other tweyn wer whalles.
c1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 836 Salt swyrd-fysche savery & fyne.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xxviii. sig. Zz7 The sword-fish, against the whale; the Rhinoceros, against the elephant.
1613 Descr. Bermudas in Force Tracts (1844) III. iii. 22 The Sword-fish swimmes vnder the Whale, and pricketh him vpward.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iii. xxiii. 168 The horne of the Pristis or Sword-fish . View more context for this quotation
1658 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour: 2nd Pt. 47 The sword-fish, which Plutarch saith, hath..a sword in the head, but no heart to use it.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Sword-Fish, a Sea-fish which has at the end of the upper Jaw, a Weapon like a Sword..; It also has Vents near the Eyes, to spout forth Water, with seven Fins.
1769 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (new ed.) III. iv. 128 The sword fish is said to be very voracious.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Arethusa in Posthumous Poems (1824) 159 The shadowy waves Are as green as the forest's night:—Outspeeding the shark, And the sword-fish dark.
1839 T. Beale Nat. Hist. Sperm Whale 49 It is said by whalers, that the ‘thresher’ and the sword-fish attack the whale in conjunction.
b. attributive.
ΚΠ
1888 G. B. Goode Amer. Fishes 249 Upon the end of the ‘shank’ fits the head of the harpoon, known by the names of Sword-fish iron, lily-iron, and Indian-dart.
1891 Cent. Dict. (at cited word) Swordfish sucker, a remora, Echeneis brachyptera, which often fastens on swordfishes.
1897 R. Kipling Captains Courageous viii. 190 A Gloucester sword-fish boat.
2. The southern constellation Dorado or Xiphias.
ΚΠ
?1768–9 Encycl. Brit. (1771) I. 487 The new Southern Constellations [include]..Dorado, Xiphias, The Sword Fish.
Derivatives
ˈswordˌfisherman n. a vessel employed in fishing for swordfish.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > fishing vessel > [noun] > fishing for other species of fish
salmon coble1786
haker1856
swordfisherman1885
tuna boat1903
tuna clipper1929
tunnyman1930
tunny boat1934
pogy seiner1949
1885 C. F. Holder Marvels Animal Life 61 The Thumbscrew was a sword-fisherman, long, low and rakish.
ˈswordˌfishery n. = swordfishing n.
ˈswordˌfishing n. fishing for swordfish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing for type of fish > [noun] > for other fish
grayling fishing1704
sun fishery1782
drum fishing1818
jack fishing1820
bluefishing1838
drumming1849
snappering1870
stingareeing1871
barbelling1876
swordfishing1879
pollacking1886
weakfishing1888
snoeking1937
1879 Congregationalist (Boston, Mass.) 20 Aug. (Cent. Dict.) Swordfishing is the most popular way of spending the day [at Block Island].
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
<
n.c1400