leather carp
- noun
- /ˈlɛðər kɑrp/
:
carpa de cuero
- The leather carp is known for its smooth skin and lack of scales.
Examples
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In the pond, we saw a leather carp swimming gracefully among the water lilies.
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The fisherman caught a large leather carp for the evening dinner.
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On and on it came, a white leather-carp.
Fiction book (2002)
Synonyms
21
2.4
A large freshwater fish often kept in garden ponds or eaten as food
A large freshwater fish kept for food or as decoration, like koi
A large freshwater fish often kept for food or sport fishing
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is a regular modifier+noun compound where 'leather' describes the skin quality of the 'carp' (i.e., leather-like, smooth skin). A B1 learner who knows 'leather' (skin) and 'carp' (fish) can plausibly infer this meaning because the composition follows a common and transparent descriptive pattern found cross-linguistically (e.g., 'leatherback turtle').
Etymology
Leather carp: The name leather carp comes from the fish's skin. People called it leather because its skin is smooth like leather rather than covered in scales, and carp is the type of fish, so the name means 'a carp with smooth or no scales'.