sardine

¹

[ sahr-deen ]

noun

, plural (especially collectively) sar·dine, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) sar·dines.

1. the pilchard, Sardina pilchardus, often preserved in oil and used for food.
2. any of various similar, closely related fishes of the herring family Clupeidae.

sardine

²

[ sahr-dahyn, -dn ]

noun

1. sard.

sardine

¹

/ -dən; ˈsɑːdiːn /

noun

1. See sard
   another name for sard

sardine

²

/ sɑːˈdiːn /

noun

1. See sild
   any of various small marine food fishes of the herring family, esp a young pilchard See also sild
2. like sardines
   like sardines very closely crowded together

Word History and Origins

Origin of sardine¹

1400–50; late Middle English sardeine < Middle French sardine < Latin sardīna, derivative of sarda sardine, noun use of feminine of Sardus Sardinian

Origin of sardine²

1300–50; Middle English (< Late Latin sardīnus ) < Greek sárdinos sardius

Word History and Origins

Origin of sardine¹

C14: from Late Latin sardinus, from Greek sardinos lithos Sardian stone, from Sardeis Sardis

Origin of sardine²

C15: via Old French from Latin sardīna, diminutive of sarda a fish suitable for pickling

Idioms and Phrases

see packed in like sardines .

Example Sentences

Another is a dreamof the inside of a river, slips down like sardines in oil,pulls my body long and sleek to chatter about currentsto any otter that would listen.

From MIT Technology Review

Peppler likes half a rotisserie chicken or a can of sardines.

From Washington Post

The other night, I made le petit aioli, for two, with these tiny tomatoes, crusty whole-grain bread and a can of sardines — there’s nothing better.

From Washington Post

They were heavy with sardines unable to fly and lost in the dense fog as they came in from the sea attracted by our lights.

From Popular-Science

All it had to offer refugees was a five-foot-wide sidewalk to lie down on beside the water, packed, I supposed, like sardines.

From Washington Post

JR: Oh well, Gwyneth Paltrow, my little Gwennie-Wennie, and her two children, what is it…Apple and Sardine?

From The Daily Beast

If Katchor sets a scene in front of a computer, expect to see sardine oil smudged across the screen.

From The Daily Beast

He will eat a plateful of gazpacho or puchero, a sardine, half a roll of bread, and drink clear water as often as wine.

From Project Gutenberg

We'll start when some young sardine with shoulder-straps finishes his breakfast, and stop when John Morgan tears up the track.

From Project Gutenberg

The reader soddens in the consciousness of his own penetration as the sardine, equally headless, soaks in oil.

From Project Gutenberg

She's wearin' a palm leaf petticoat and a string o' shark's teeth around her neck with an empty sardine box for a pendant.

From Project Gutenberg

Salmon are rarely caught by still fishing, but they will take the spoon or a sardine or other small fish impaled upon the hook.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cluster
• congest
• congregate
• deluge
• flock
• gather
• huddle
• overcrowd
• pack
• pile
• squeeze
• stream
• swamp
• swarm
• throng