hard roe

7.2

Food that comes from fish eggs or the egg-filled part of a fish with a grainy feel

noun
/hɑrd roʊ/

: huevas

I ordered sushi with hard roe on top.

Examples

The chef garnished the toast with a spoonful of hard roe for added flavor.
She ordered a delicate salad topped with smoked hard roe at the seafood restaurant.
During spawning season, the fish markets sell fresh hard roe to eager customers.
The chef prepared a dish featuring hard roe and seaweed.
During spawning season, the fish markets sell fresh hard roe to eager customers.
She ordered a delicate salad topped with smoked hard roe at the seafood restaurant.
The chef garnished the toast with a spoonful of hard roe for added flavor.

Synonyms

roe

vshard roe

3 7.1

Eggs from fish that people often eat, for example salmon

is ripe fish eggs with a grainy texture used as food

coral

vshard roe

1 8.8

The eggs inside a lobster that turn red when cooked and are used to add color and flavor

is ripe fish eggs with a grainy texture rather than reddish garnish eggs

shad roe

vshard roe

1 9.5

Eggs from a shad fish that are cooked and eaten

is ripe fish eggs known for grainy texture rather than specific fish origin

Antonyms

soft roe

Specialized

8.6

A soft, creamy part of a fish that holds sperm and people eat

How Firm

hard roe

7.2

soft roe

Specialized

8.6

Surface Forms

hard roe singular

hard roes plural

Morphology

hard + roe

The meaning is directly compositional: 'roe' denotes fish eggs and 'hard' describes a firm texture, so 'hard roe' is readily interpreted as firm-textured fish eggs used as food. This adjective+noun pattern is a standard, cross-linguistically common composition, so a B1 learner who knows both words would likely understand it.

Etymology

Hard roe is a simple name using hard and roe: roe means the 'fish eggs' inside a fish, and hard shows these eggs are ripe and firm to eat. That's why hard roe means 'ripe fish eggs used as food'.