trout

[ trout ]

noun

, plural (especially collectively) trout, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) trouts.

1. any of several game fishes of the genus Salmo, related to the salmon. Compare brown trout, cutthroat trout, rainbow trout.
2. any of various game fishes of the salmon family of the genus Salvelinus. Compare brook trout ( def 1 ), char ², Dolly Varden ( def 2 ), lake trout.
3. any of several unrelated fishes, as a bass, Micropterus salmoides, a drum of the genus Cynoscion, or a greenling of the genus Hexagrammos.

trout

/ traʊt /

noun

1. any of various game fishes, esp Salmo trutta and related species, mostly of fresh water in northern regions: family Salmonidae (salmon). They resemble salmon but are smaller and spotted
2. any of various similar or related fishes, such as a sea trout
3. any of various fishes of the Salmo or Oncorhynchus genera smaller than the salmon, esp European and American varieties naturalized in Australia
4. informal.
   an irritating or grumpy person, esp a woman

Other Words From

• troutless adjective
• troutlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of trout¹

before 1050; Middle English trou ( h ) te, Old English truht < Latin tructa < Greek trṓktēs gnawer, a sea fish, equivalent to trṓg ( ein ) to gnaw + -tēs agent noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of trout¹

Old English trūht , from Late Latin tructa , from Greek troktēs sharp-toothed fish

Example Sentences

In California’s Delta, there are threatened and endangered fish species, including steelhead trout, two types of Chinook salmon, longfin smelt, Delta smelt and green sturgeon.

From Los Angeles Times

Several examples of mislabelling involved substituting an expensive product for a cheaper species: tilapia for snapper, rainbow trout for Atlantic salmon.

From Salon

“I thought, was that a salmon or maybe it was a very large rainbow trout?”

From Los Angeles Times

Biologists expect that with the dams now removed and the Klamath flowing freely, all types of native fish will benefit, including fall-run and spring-run chinook as well as coho salmon, steelhead trout and Pacific lampreys.

From Los Angeles Times

Their woes have also been compounded by disease and predation by nonnative trout.

From Los Angeles Times