herring

B2 Topic:Animals

Also spelled herrin’s

US /ˈhɛɹɪŋ/ UK /ˈhɛrɪŋ/
noun Freq #13644

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    a small oily sea fish often eaten as food

    The fishermen brought barrels of herring to market.

  2. 2
    noun

    the flesh of a herring used as food

    They served smoked herring with bread.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · a small oily sea fish often... clupeid fish
2 noun · the flesh of a herring used... herring fish
Word family
Derived forms herringsherringboneherringlike
Related forms kipperstockfish

Etymology

From Old English haering, from a West Germanic word for herring. The deeper origin is uncertain, possibly linked to hair because of the fish's many fine bones.

Topics

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