surffish

[ surf-fish ]

noun

, plural (especially collectively) surf·fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) surf·fish·es.

1. surfperch ( def ).
2. any of several sciaenoid fishes, as Umbrina roncador, inhabiting waters along the Pacific coast of North America.
3. surf smelt.

Word History and Origins

Origin of surffish¹

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; surf + fish

Example Sentences

In the summers the Trippes take their 16-year-old daughter, Betty, and three young sons, Charles, John and Edward, to a rambling, grey-shingled house on the ocean's edge at East Hampton, L.I., where Trippe likes to swim and surffish with the boys, exercising hard to work off tension.

From Time Magazine Archive