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Glite Dictionary
fish slice

fish slice

2.8
A wide flat kitchen tool for lifting, turning and serving fish or other foods
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : espátula para pescado
  • To serve the grilled salmon, she carefully used a fish slice to lift it from the frying pan.

Examples

  • He used a fish slice to turn the fillets over cooking evenly on both sides.

  • When preparing the meal, she grabbed the fish slice to help serve the delicious fish to her guests.

  • Terri, in an oversized man's shirt, stands by the stove holding a fish slice and smiling nervously.

    Fiction book (1992)

Surface Forms

fish slice singular
fish slices plural

Morphology

fish + slice

The compound is compositionally transparent: 'fish' specifies the domain or purpose and 'slice' (here given as a flat spatula) names the tool, so the overall meaning 'a spatula/turner for fish' is directly derivable from the parts. This noun–noun modifier pattern is common in English and in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent senses will readily infer the utensil meaning (though there is a potential alternate reading if 'slice' is taken only as 'a piece').

Etymology

The kitchen tool fish slice is named for the clear image of a wide, flat blade that slides under a fish to lift or turn it like a thin slice. That's why the name means 'a flat spatula used for lifting, turning, or serving fish'.