blackfish

American  

[blak-fish] / ˈblækˌfɪʃ /

noun

plural

blackfish,

plural

blackfishes

1. any of various dark-colored fishes, as the tautog, Tautoga onitis, or the black sea bass, Centropristes striata.

2. a small, freshwater food fish, Dallia pectoralis, found in Alaska and Siberia, noted for its ability to survive frozen in ice.

3. black whale.

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blackfish British  

/ ˈblækˌfɪʃ /

noun

1. a minnow-like Alaskan freshwater fish, Dallia pectoralis , related to the pikes and thought to be able to survive prolonged freezing

2. a female salmon that has recently spawned Compare redfish

3. any of various other dark fishes, esp the luderick, a common edible Australian estuary fish

4. another name for pilot whale

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Etymology

Origin of blackfish

An Americanism first recorded in 1680–90; black + fish

Example Sentences

Spiny-finned sea robin, blackfish and wayward angelfish swim in the murky ocean tinted green by sheets of algae.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 30, 2023

The orca’s journey from wild to captive would spark a worldwide sensation and change everything we knew about "blackfish."

From Seattle Times • Dec. 13, 2018

Could the dark overall colouration in the blackfish perhaps be a paedomorphic feature?

From Scientific American • Feb. 27, 2012

Karl Kelso, a dive instructor who also works in computers, said he had come face to face with a this-big blackfish, holding his hands apart to indicate something the size of a Labrador.

From New York Times • Jun. 17, 2010

He spoke conversationally, laughed as if I had made an amusing reply, and moved off to the pickled blackfish.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin