Adjacent Words

Fishing definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FISH'ING, ppr. Attempting to catch fish; searching; seeking to draw forth by artifice or indirectly; adding a piece of timber to a mast or spar to strengthen it.
FISH'ING, n.
1. The art or practice of catching fish.
2. A fishery.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the act of someone who fishes as a diversion [syn: fishing, sportfishing]
2: the occupation of catching fish for a living

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 13th century 1. the sport or business of catching fish 2. a place for catching fish

Britannica Concise

Sport of catching fish, freshwater or saltwater, typically with rod, line, and hook. Fishing is as old as the human ability to use tools to capture prey. The first significant modern innovations, incl. use of a reel, a rod with line guides, and a hook with an offset point, came in the late 17th and early 18th cent. Horsehair was used as line until the mid-19th cent, when it was replaced by textile materials, in turn replaced in the 1930s by nylon. Wood and bamboo rods yielded to rods of fiberglass and other synthetic materials. Forms of sport fishing practiced today include fly fishing (freshwater), in which a fly-like hook is repeatedly cast upon the water surface to attract biting fish; bait fishing (fresh- and saltwater), in which live or artificial bait is set or drawn below the surface; and big-game fishing (saltwater), in which heavy-duty tackle is used to land large marine species (incl. tuna, marlin, and swordfish) from a motorized boat.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. the activity of catching fish, esp. for food or as a sport. Phrases and idioms: fishing-line a long thread of silk etc. with a baited hook, sinker, float, etc., used for catching fish. fishing-rod a long tapering usu. jointed rod to which a fishing-line is attached.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fish Fish, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fished; p. pr. & vb. n. Fishing.] 1. To attempt to catch fish; to be employed in taking fish, by any means, as by angling or drawing a net. 2. To seek to obtain by artifice, or indirectly to seek to draw forth; as, to fish for compliments. Any other fishing question. --Sir W. Scott.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fishing Fish"ing, n. 1. The act, practice, or art of one who fishes. 2. A fishery. --Spenser.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fishing Fish"ing, a. [From Fishing, n.] Pertaining to fishing; used in fishery; engaged in fishing; as, fishing boat; fishing tackle; fishing village. Fishing fly, an artificial fly for fishing. Fishing line, a line used in catching fish. Fishing net, a net of various kinds for catching fish; including the bag net, casting net, drag net, landing net, seine, shrimping net, trawl, etc. Fishing rod, a long slender rod, to which is attached the line for angling. Fishing smack, a sloop or other small vessel used in sea fishing. Fishing tackle, apparatus used in fishing, as hook, line, rod, etc. Fishing tube (Micros.), a glass tube for selecting a microscopic object in a fluid.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. Fishing is the sport, hobby, or business of catching fish. Despite the poor weather the fishing has been pretty good. ...a fishing boat.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fish'-ing (halieuo): Several methods of securing fish are resorted to at the present day along the seashores of Palestine. Two of these, dynamiting and poisoning with the juice of cyclamen bulbs or other poisonous plants, can be passed over as havi ng no bearing on ancient methods.

(1) With Hooks:

Some fishing is done with hooks and lines, either on poles when fishing from shore, or on trawls in deep-sea fishing. The fishhooks now used are of European origin, but bronze fishhooks of a very early date have been discovered. That fishing with hooks was known in Jesus' time is indicated by the Master's command to Peter (Mt 17:27).

See FISHHOOK.

(2) With Spears:

Job 41:7 probably refers to an instrument much like the barbed spear still used along the Syrian coast. It is used at night by torchlight.

(3) With Nets:

In the most familiar Bible stories of fisherman life a net was used. Today most of the fishing is done in the same way. These nets are homemade. Frequently one sees the fishermen or members of their families making nets or repairing old ones during the stormy days when fishing is impossible.

Nets are used in three ways:

(a) A circular net, with small meshes and leaded around the edge, is cast from the shore into the shallow water in such a manner that the leaded edge forms the base of a cone, the apex being formed by the fisherman holding the center of the net in his hand. The cone thus formed encloses such fish as cannot escape the quick throw of the fisher.

(b) A long net or seine of one or two fathoms depth, leaded on one edge and provided with floats on the other, is payed out from boats in such a way as to surround a school of fish. Long ropes fastened to the two ends are carried ashore many yards apart, and from five to ten men on each rope gradually draw in the net. The fish are then landed from the shallow water with small nets or by hand. This method is commonly practiced on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

(c) In deeper waters a net similar to that described above, but four or five fathoms deep, is cast from boats and the ends slowly brought together so as to form a circle. Men then dive down and bring one portion of the weighted edge over under the rest, so as to form a bottom. The compass of the net is then narrowed, and the fish are emptied from the net into the boat. Sometimes the net with the fish enclosed is towed into shallow water before drawing. The above method is probably the one the disciples used (Mt 4:18; Mr 1:16; Lu 5:2-10; Joh 21:3-11). Portions of nets with leads and floats, of early Egyptian origin, may be seen in the British Museum.

See NET.

The fishermen today usually work with their garments girdled up about their waists. Frequently they wear only a loose outer garment which is wet much of the time. This garment can be quickly removed by pulling it over the head, When occasion requires the fisherman to jump into the sea. If methods have not changed, Peter had probably just climbed back into the boat after adjusting the net for drawing when he learned that it was Jesus who stood on the shore. He was literally naked and pulled on his coat before he went ashore (Joh 21:7).

James A. Patch

Foolish Dictionary

An heroic treatment tried by some laymen to avoid falling asleep in church on Sunday.

Moby Thesaurus

angling, casting, cynegetic, delving, digging, fishery, fly fishing, following, guddling, halieutic, harpooning, hunting, in full cry, in hot pursuit, in pursuit, in search of, jigging, loaded for bear, looking for, nosy, out for, out for bear, piscation, piscatorial, piscatory, poking, probing, prying, pursuant, pursuing, questing, rod and reel, searching, seeking, still-fishing, trawling, trolling, whaling