2. (Zo["o]l.) An oviparous, vertebrate animal usually having
fins and a covering scales or plates. It breathes by means
of gills, and lives almost entirely in the water. See
{Pisces}.
Note: The true fishes include the Teleostei (bony fishes),
Ganoidei, Dipnoi, and Elasmobranchii or Selachians
(sharks and skates). Formerly the leptocardia and
Marsipobranciata were also included, but these are now
generally regarded as two distinct classes, below the
fishes.
3. pl. The twelfth sign of the zodiac; Pisces.
4. The flesh of fish, used as food.
5. (Naut.)
(a) A purchase used to fish the anchor.
(b) A piece of timber, somewhat in the form of a fish,
used to strengthen a mast or yard.
Note: Fish is used adjectively or as part of a compound word;
as, fish line, fish pole, fish spear, fish-bellied.
{Age of Fishes}. See under {Age}, n., 8.
{Fish ball}, fish (usually salted codfish) shared fine, mixed
with mashed potato, and made into the form of a small,
round cake. [U.S.]
{Fish bar}. Same as {Fish plate} (below).
{Fish beam} (Mech.), a beam one of whose sides (commonly the
under one) swells out like the belly of a fish. --Francis.
{Fish crow} (Zo["o]l.), a species of crow ({Corvus
ossifragus}), found on the Atlantic coast of the United
States. It feeds largely on fish.
{Fish culture}, the artifical breeding and rearing of fish;
pisciculture.
{Fish day}, a day on which fish is eaten; a fast day.
{Fish duck} (Zo["o]l.), any species of merganser.
{Fish fall}, the tackle depending from the fish davit, used
in hauling up the anchor to the gunwale of a ship.
{Fish garth}, a dam or weir in a river for keeping fish or
taking them easily.
{Fish joint}, a joint formed by a plate or pair of plates
fastened upon two meeting beams, plates, etc., at their
junction; -- used largely in connecting the rails of
railroads.
{Fish kettle}, a long kettle for boiling fish whole.
{Fish ladder}, a dam with a series of steps which fish can
leap in order to ascend falls in a river.
{Fish line}, or {Fishing line}, a line made of twisted hair,
silk, etc., used in angling.
{Fish louse} (Zo["o]l.), any crustacean parasitic on fishes,
esp. the parasitic Copepoda, belonging to {Caligus},
{Argulus}, and other related genera. See {Branchiura}.
{Fish maw} (Zo["o]l.), the stomach of a fish; also, the air
bladder, or sound.
{Fish meal}, fish desiccated and ground fine, for use in
soups, etc.
{Fish oil}, oil obtained from the bodies of fish and marine
animals, as whales, seals, sharks, from cods' livers, etc.
{Fish owl} (Zo["o]l.), a fish-eating owl of the Old World
genera {Scotopelia} and {Ketupa}, esp. a large East Indian
species ({K. Ceylonensis}).
{Fish plate}, one of the plates of a fish joint.
{Fish pot}, a wicker basket, sunk, with a float attached, for
catching crabs, lobsters, etc.
{Fish pound}, a net attached to stakes, for entrapping and
catching fish; a weir. [Local, U.S.] --Bartlett.
{Fish slice}, a broad knife for dividing fish at table; a
fish trowel.
{Fish slide}, an inclined box set in a stream at a small
fall, or ripple, to catch fish descending the current.
--Knight.
{Fish sound}, the air bladder of certain fishes, esp. those
that are dried and used as food, or in the arts, as for
the preparation of isinglass.
{Fish story}, a story which taxes credulity; an extravagant
or incredible narration. [Colloq. U.S.] --Bartlett.
{Fish strainer}.
(a) A metal colander, with handles, for taking fish from a
boiler.
(b) A perforated earthenware slab at the bottom of a dish,
to drain the water from a boiled fish.
{Fish} {weir or wear}, a weir set in a stream, for catching
fish.
{Neither fish nor flesh} (Fig.), neither one thing nor the
other.
Note: The word is often used in composition, as in chaffinch,
goldfinch, grassfinch, pinefinch, etc.
{Bramble finch}. See {Brambling}.
{Canary finch}, the canary bird.
{Copper finch}. See {Chaffinch}.
{Diamond finch}. See under {Diamond}.
{Finch falcon} (Zo["o]l.), one of several very small East
Indian falcons of the genus {Hierax}.
{To pull a finch}, to swindle an ignorant or unsuspecting
person. [Obs.] ``Privily a finch eke could he pull.''
--Chaucer.