sea poacher

9.9

A small, thin fish with bony plates on its body that lives in deep northern Pacific waters

noun
/siː ˈpoʊtʃər/

Specialized

: pez cazador

The sea poacher is often found in the cold, deep waters near Alaska.

Examples

With its armor-like scales, the sea poacher is easy to identify among Pacific marine life.
Fishermen sometimes catch a sea poacher by accident while trawling for other fish.
Look at that sea poacher swimming near the rocks!
The sea poacher is known for its unique appearance.
The sea poacher is often found in the cold, deep waters near Alaska.
With its armor-like scales, the sea poacher is easy to identify among Pacific marine life.
Fishermen sometimes catch a sea poacher by accident while trawling for other fish.

Synonyms

poacher

vssea poacher

Specialized

1 9.9

A small northern Pacific fish with a body covered in bony plates

focuses on deeper northern Pacific occurrence rather than taxonomic classification

sea poker

vssea poacher

Specialized

9.9

A small thin fish with bony plates that lives in deep northern Pacific waters

is the same fish but highlights its deeper water habitat rather than size

Surface Forms

sea poacher singular

sea poachers plural

Morphology

sea + poacher

The compound simply combines 'sea' (marine habitat) with 'poacher' understood here as a type of small fish, so the meaning — a poacher fish found in the sea — is directly derivable from the constituents. This habitat-specifying compounding is a common, regular pattern in English (e.g. sea horse, sea lion) and is likely transparent to a B1 learner who knows both words.

Etymology

Sea poacher may come from the picture of a small, armored fish that 'steals' along the sea floor like a little poacher. Its bony plates look like armor, so this image helps explain why the name is used for the small, slender fish found in cold, deep waters.