cunner

American  

[kuhn-er] / ˈkʌn ər /

noun

1. a small wrasse, Tautogolabrus adspersus, common in North Atlantic coastal waters of the United States.

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Etymology

Origin of cunner

First recorded in 1595–1605; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

He predicted that removing the old traps will help the populations of various fish species including tautog, rock crabs, whelk, cunner and sea bass, as well as the remaining lobsters.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 22, 2022

It may be that the first hook was taken by some other fish, but the cunner got in ahead on the bait.

From Old Plymouth Trails by Packard, Winthrop

To sit for hours blinking in the sun, waiting for a cunner to come along and take his hook, was as exhaustive a kind of labor as he cared to engage in.

From A Rivermouth Romance by Aldrich, Thomas Bailey

For the first bait of the first fisherman that ever threw hook into the North Atlantic was taken by a cunner.

From Old Plymouth Trails by Packard, Winthrop

So de fust cunner dat rubs agin it wont knock it off.

From St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. 5, July 1878, No. 9 by Dodge, Mary Mapes