red mullet

American  

noun

1. a goatfish or surmullet.

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red mullet British  

noun

1. US name: goatfish.  any of the marine percoid fishes constituting the family Mullidae , esp Mullus surmuletus , a food fish of European waters. They have a pair of long barbels beneath the chin and a reddish coloration

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Etymology

Origin of red mullet

First recorded in 1755–65

Example Sentences

Rock started photographing Bowie as the artist was forming his Ziggy Stardust persona: bright red mullet, with blood-red rouge and eye shadow and glittery gold lipstick.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 19, 2021

Gone are the days when he used to boast an abundant catch of red lobster, sea urchin and red mullet.

From Reuters • Jul. 9, 2019

But to be the first in those platform shoes and that red mullet since Mr. Bowie’s death in January, at the age of 69, added another layer of anxieties.

From New York Times • Mar. 20, 2016

But other species such as John Dory and red mullet will shift their range into UK waters, according to modelling work.

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2015

The gray mullet, Mugil capito, and the red mullet, Mullus surmuletus, are the most common on the British coast.

From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Belcher, Edward, Sir