sand dab
1
8.4
- noun
- /sænd dæb/
- US
:
platija de arena
- You remember when we went to Nova Scotia that spring... and we had those sand dabs at that restaurant on the bay?
- sand dabs and sole
- sand dabs and cod
Examples
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Yes, I had potatoes with my sand dabs at Alioto's.
Blog text (22) -
I don't think we've ever had sand dabs that tasty again.
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I prepared the sand dabs with a lemon butter sauce for dinner.
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At the seafood restaurant, the chef specializes in sand dabs served with seasonal vegetables.
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We caught several sand dabs on our fishing trip along the Pacific coast.
Synonyms
A flat fish like a sole that lives on the Pacific coast of North America
A flat fish that lives on the Pacific coast of North America with sandy colouring
A flat fish from the east coast of North America that people eat
A flat fish from cold north Atlantic waters that people eat and often catch in winter
A flat fish that lives near southern United States coasts and changes color to match the sea floor
A thin flat fish with almost clear skin found on the Atlantic coast
Surface Forms
Morphology
sand + dab
The compound partly signals meaning via 'sand' (suggesting a sandy habitat) which could hint at an organism associated with sand, but the input lacks a definition for 'dab' and the fish sense of 'dab' is not predictable from the common senses of 'dab' (e.g., a small touch). Therefore a learner who only knows the everyday meanings of the constituents would likely need prior lexical knowledge that 'dab' names a flatfish; the habitat cue helps but does not fully yield the specific sense.
Etymology
Sand dab comes from the fish's way of lying flat on the sandy sea bottom; sand shows where it lives and dab suggests a small thing resting on the sand. So the name tells us it is a 'small', 'flat' fish found on sand and often eaten.