shad
Americannoun
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a deep-bodied herring, Alosa sapidissima, of Europe and North America, that migrates up streams to spawn, used for food.
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any other fish of the genus Alosa or related genera.
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any of several unrelated fishes.
noun
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any of various herring-like food fishes of the genus Alosa and related genera, such as A. alosa ( allis shad ) of Europe, that migrate from the sea to freshwater to spawn: family Clupeidae (herrings)
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any of various similar but unrelated fishes
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of shad
before 1050; Old English sceadd (not recorded in ME)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Severn Estuary is home to huge numbers of sprats and salmon, and the twaite shad, a protected migrating species which spawns in the tributaries of the River Severn.
From BBC • Feb. 10, 2026
That might mean a lot of fish getting caught up and clogging the system, including the endangered twaite shad.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025
The eaglets’ parents are bringing them plenty of food — usually shad, koi or catfish; and sometimes the occasional squirrel or groundhog — Greeley said.
From Washington Post • Apr. 5, 2023
Some recipes are complex, like making wine from muscadine grapes, or stuffing shad with parsley rice and serving it with roe — a two-day effort.
From New York Times • May 9, 2022
Sketching in the air, I do the living room: a deep, sunken green, and a school of shad angles toward the landing.
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
