barred pickerel
- noun
- /bɑrd ˈpɪkərəl/
- US
- The barred pickerel can be distinguished by its dark vertical stripes and slender body.
Examples
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Anglers often seek the barred pickerel for its spirited fight despite its small size.
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While fishing along the Atlantic coast, she caught a colorful barred pickerel.
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The barred pickerel is known for its vibrant colors.
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Have you ever caught a barred pickerel?
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Anglers often seek the barred pickerel for its spirited fight despite its small size.
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The barred pickerel can be distinguished by its dark vertical stripes and slender body.
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While fishing along the Atlantic coast, she caught a colorful barred pickerel.
Synonyms
A small thin freshwater fish similar to a pike found in North America
A small, lively fish like a pike found along the east coast of North America
A small lively fish with red fins that lives in coastal streams
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is directly compositional: 'barred' (having parallel colored bands) simply describes the kind of 'pickerel' (a small pike), so the meaning 'a pickerel with bands' is immediately derivable from the parts. This adjective + noun pattern is a basic, cross-linguistically common construction, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily understand the MWE.
Etymology
Barred pickerel comes from how the fish looks: barred names the dark vertical 'stripes' on its body and pickerel is a word for a small 'fish'. So the name explains why it refers to a small, lively striped fish today.