A mackerel is a sea fish with a dark, patterned back.
They'd gone out to fish for mackerel.
Mackerel is this fish eaten as food.
Bay leaf is an excellent herb for mackerel.
mackerel in British English
(ˈmækrəl)
nounWord forms: plural-rel or -rels
1.
a spiny-finned food fish, Scomber scombrus, occurring in northern coastal regions of the Atlantic and in the Mediterranean: family Scombridae. It has a deeply forked tail and a greenish-blue body marked with wavy dark bands on the back
Compare Spanish mackerel (sense 1)
2.
any of various other fishes of the family Scombridae, such as Scomber colias (Spanish mackerel) and S. japonicus (Pacific mackerel)
horse mackerel
Word origin
C13: from Anglo-French, from Old French maquerel, of unknown origin
mackerel in American English
(ˈmækərəl; ˈmækrəl)
nounWord forms: pluralˈmackerel or ˈmackerels
any of various scombroid fishes; esp., an edible fish (Scomber scombrus) of the North Atlantic, that has a greenish, blue-striped back and a silvery belly