Skip to main content
to fish

to fish

119 1.0
To catch fish for sport or food
  • verb
  • /fɪʃ/
translation icon : pescar
  • In 1992, only one vessel fished for hagfish off Canada, and there was only one buyer.
  • catch fish
  • fish for tuna
  • fish for shrimp

And ourselves, we'd rather teach people to fish rather than give people fish.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • We just fished this out of the river.

  • You go down there and you fish among those stumps down by the point.

  • We got to be able to fish this in here.

  • We're talking to people that have got to fish this thing out of the sea.

  • Now, we can fish for ourselves.

  • I fish in the neighborhood all the time.

  • Indeed, if we did not fish regularly, we did not always have enough to eat.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • In the 1980s, about 12 of these boats fished in the bay regularly.

    Academic text (1990)
  • We'd started out the day expecting to fish for a great gamefish, the chinook salmon.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • After buying a new fishing rod, he plans to fish at the lake every weekend.

Synonyms

to fly-fish
vsto fish
4 6.1

To fish with small fake flies using a special rod

is broader and not limited to that specific lure technique
to shrimp
vsto fish
4 5.3

To catch small sea animals with a long body for food, often from a boat

is broader, covering shellfish and other aquatic creatures
to shark
vsto fish
1 9.3

To hunt large sea fish with sharp teeth for a living

is general capturing or trying to capture aquatic animals not only predators
to net fish
vsto fish
2.8

To catch fish with a net

is general catching of aquatic animals without limiting the method
to gillnetting
vsto fish
  • Specialized
8.2

To catch fish using nets that trap them by their gills

is general catching rather than this technical trapping method

Antonyms

1.8

To let someone or something go free from being held

Idioms

cold fish
  • Offensive
5 7.6

A person who is distant and not friendly

kettle of fish
  • Informal
2 8.6

A difficult situation that causes trouble

1 5.5

An important person in a small group who has more power than elsewhere

1 8.8

Choose to act now or step aside so someone else can

1 6.5

To have more important things to do than this matter

1 7.7

A situation very different from the one just mentioned

1 8.1

Not clearly one thing or another so people cannot decide what it is

To say that something is completely unnecessary

People like different things

7.1

To have more important things to do now

A funny way to say goodbye when leaving a group

what the fish
  • Informal
9.9

An informal phrase people say to show surprise or disbelief

Phrasal Verbs

To catch fish with a net

Compounds

24 1.0

A large sea fish that people often eat fresh, grilled or canned

18 1.0

A long thin piece of fish covered in breadcrumbs and fried or baked

18 1.5

A glass box that holds water for keeping live fish

big fish
  • Informal
14 3.6

An important person in a group or organization who has power

10 1.0

A hot meal of fried fish and potatoes often sold to take away

9 2.7

A liquid from oily fish that people take as a health supplement

6 3.0

A simple card game for two or more players where they ask for cards to make sets of four

fish fry
  • Informal
6 2.8

A meal where people eat fried fish together, often outdoors

5 2.7

A place where people raise fish in tanks or ponds for food

A water animal that lives in rivers or lakes and people eat

3 9.3

A traditional Jewish dish of cooked balls made from ground fish mixed with eggs and breadcrumbs

3 2.0

A slice of fish without bones cut lengthwise for cooking

2 2.0

A small fried patty made from flaked fish mixed with potatoes

2 1.0

A long thin piece of fish covered in breadcrumbs and fried or baked

2 1.1

A small flat piece on a fish's body that protects its skin

1 1.1

A dish of fish cooked slowly in liquid with vegetables and spices

game fish
  • Specialized
1 5.0

A fish that people catch for sport, not for food or money

1 6.7

A small bright tropical fish that lives among the stinging arms of sea anemones

1 1.4

A clear round container to keep small pet fish

1 4.5

A small table knife with a wide flat blade used for eating fish

sport fish
  • Specialized
1 3.4

A fish people catch for fun because it fights when hooked

A US government agency that protects wild animals, fish, and their habitats

bony fish
  • Specialized
1 3.7

A fish with a skeleton made mainly of bone, like a salmon or goldfish

1 4.6

A fish that lives near the sea floor, like cod or haddock

A small colorful tropical sea fish with a flat body and wide fins, often near coral reefs

1 2.7

A thick soup made with fish, potatoes, and milk or cream

fish ladder
  • Specialized
1 5.0

A set of pools and steps that help fish swim past a dam

fish meal
  • Specialized
1 3.5

A ground, dried fish product used as fertilizer or animal feed

1 4.9

A large hawk that catches fish, for example an osprey

1 3.8

A tropical sea fish with large fins that glides above water

1 2.1

A fish that people catch or farm to eat

1 3.7

A small bright freshwater fish often kept in aquariums

poor fish
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A person who is not very clever and is easy to trick

Meat from fish that live in the sea and people eat

A sea fish with a pointed body and spines that give a painful sting

teleost fish
  • Specialized
1 7.4

A bony fish with a jaw that can move and a symmetrical tail, like salmon or goldfish

1 1.0

A salad made from canned tuna mixed with mayonnaise and chopped vegetables like celery or onion

A United States government agency that protects wild animals, plants and their homes

basket fish
  • Specialized
9.9

A sea animal like a starfish with many thin, branched arms around a round middle body

A small sea fish that lives on the bottom and has a long toothless snout

A flying fish with large front and back fins that lets it glide far above water

blennioid fish
  • Specialized
9.9

A long sea fish with little or no scales, large side fins, and small lower fins near the shore

A fish that lives near the bottom of lakes, rivers, or the sea

8.9

A large fresh water fish with a mouth like a sucker from the Mississippi valley

carangid fish
  • Specialized
9.4

A sea fish like a jack that has a fast, thin body and a forked tail

cartilaginous fish
  • Specialized
6.8

A fish whose skeleton is made of soft cartilage not bone

characin fish
  • Specialized
8.7

A freshwater fish from Central or South America and Africa that is often brightly colored and kept in aquariums

cichlid fish
  • Specialized
7.0

A colorful freshwater fish from warm regions that people often keep in fish tanks

clinid fish
  • Specialized
9.9

A small, thin marine fish that lives on coral reefs and seagrass beds

A small bright orange fish with white stripes that lives among sea anemones for protection

clupeid fish
  • Specialized
8.1

A small sea fish like herring or sardine that swims in large groups and is used for food

9.9

A small fish with a pale body and bold vertical black bands

croaker fish
  • Specialized
6.9

A fish that lives near the shore and makes a croaking sound

9.9

A deep sea fish in the tropical Atlantic with bright purple and yellow colors and a long body

crucifix fish
  • Specialized
9.9

A sea catfish from the Caribbean with a bone shaped like a cross in its head

cyprinid fish
  • Specialized
8.6

A freshwater fish with soft fins, no teeth, and scales, like a carp

cypriniform fish
  • Specialized
9.9

A freshwater fish with soft fins like a carp or minnow

doctor-fish
  • Specialized
9.4

A brightly colored tropical fish with sharp spines found in the Caribbean

A small freshwater fish that nibbles dead skin during spa pedicures

A deep sea fish with a large mouth and a glowing lure on its head to attract prey

Taking out the insides of a fish before cooking

ex-lax fish
  • Informal
9.9

A fish dish that people think makes them need the bathroom quickly

2.6

A small round piece of fish cooked and eaten as a snack or in soup

4.6

A situation where many people watch you and you have no privacy

fish brain
  • Offensive
9.0

A person who often forgets things and is not careful

fish doctor
  • Specialized
8.9

A brightly colored fish with no scales that lives in cold northern waters

7.8

A large diving duck with a crest and a thin hooked bill for catching fish

A large bird that catches fish and often builds big nests near water

5.6

A baked loaf of fish mixed with breadcrumbs and seasonings

fish louse
  • Specialized
9.5

A small animal that lives on fish and eats their blood or skin

2.8

A small fake bait made of plastic or metal to attract fish

A light creamy dish that blends cooked fish with cream and eggs, often served as a starter

2.8

A wide flat kitchen tool for lifting, turning and serving fish or other foods

How Thoroughly

to trawl
  • Specialized
1 5.3
to net
3 3.6
drag
31 2.3
to fish
119 1.0
to angle
2 8.3

Surface Forms

fish infinitive
fished past
fished past participle
fishing present participle
fishes third person singular

Etymology

Fish comes from an old German word fisc meaning 'fish', and people long ago used the same word as a verb—so to fish is simply to 'catch' or try to catch fish, just like a fisherman does.