Adjacent Words

Shad definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SHAD, n. It has no plural termination. Shad is singular or plural. A fish, a species of Clupea. Shad enter the rivers in England and America in the spring in immense numbers.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: bony flesh of herring-like fish usually caught during their migration to fresh water for spawning; especially of Atlantic coast
2: herring-like food fishes that migrate from the sea to fresh water to spawn

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural shad) Etymology: Middle English *shad, from Old English sceadd Date: before 12th century any of several fishes (especially genus Alosa) of the herring family that differ from the typical herrings (genus Clupeus) in having a relatively deep body and in being anadromous and that include some important food fishes of Europe and North America

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. same or shads) Zool. any deep-bodied edible marine fish of the genus Alosa, spawning in fresh water. Etymology: OE sceadd, of unkn. orig.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shad Shad (sh[a^]d), n. sing. & pl. [AS. sceadda a kind of fish, akin to Prov. G. schade; cf. Ir. & Gael. sgadan a herring, W. ysgadan herrings; all perhaps akin to E. skate a fish.] (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of food fishes of the Herring family. The American species (Clupea sapidissima), which is abundant on the Atlantic coast and ascends the larger rivers in spring to spawn, is an important market fish. The European allice shad, or alose (C. alosa), and the twaite shad. (C. finta), are less important species. [Written also chad.] Note: The name is loosely applied, also, to several other fishes, as the gizzard shad (see under Gizzard), called also mud shad, white-eyed shad, and winter shad. Hardboaded, or Yellow-tailed, shad, the menhaden. Hickory, or Tailor, shad, the mattowacca. Long-boned shad, one of several species of important food fishes of the Bermudas and the West Indies, of the genus Gerres. Shad bush (Bot.), a name given to the North American shrubs or small trees of the rosaceous genus Amelanchier (A. Canadensis, and A. alnifolia) Their white racemose blossoms open in April or May, when the shad appear, and the edible berries (pomes) ripen in June or July, whence they are called Juneberries. The plant is also called service tree, and Juneberry. Shad frog, an American spotted frog (Rana halecina); -- so called because it usually appears at the time when the shad begin to run in the rivers. Trout shad, the squeteague. White shad, the common shad.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shad Shad (sh[a^]d), n. sing. & pl. [AS. sceadda a kind of fish, akin to Prov. G. schade; cf. Ir. & Gael. sgadan a herring, W. ysgadan herrings; all perhaps akin to E. skate a fish.] (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of food fishes of the Herring family. The American species (Clupea sapidissima), which is abundant on the Atlantic coast and ascends the larger rivers in spring to spawn, is an important market fish. The European allice shad, or alose (C. alosa), and the twaite shad. (C. finta), are less important species. [Written also chad.] Note: The name is loosely applied, also, to several other fishes, as the gizzard shad (see under Gizzard), called also mud shad, white-eyed shad, and winter shad. Hardboaded, or Yellow-tailed, shad, the menhaden. Hickory, or Tailor, shad, the mattowacca. Long-boned shad, one of several species of important food fishes of the Bermudas and the West Indies, of the genus Gerres. Shad bush (Bot.), a name given to the North American shrubs or small trees of the rosaceous genus Amelanchier (A. Canadensis, and A. alnifolia) Their white racemose blossoms open in April or May, when the shad appear, and the edible berries (pomes) ripen in June or July, whence they are called Juneberries. The plant is also called service tree, and Juneberry. Shad frog, an American spotted frog (Rana halecina); -- so called because it usually appears at the time when the shad begin to run in the rivers. Trout shad, the squeteague. White shad, the common shad.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shad Shad (sh[a^]d), n. sing. & pl. [AS. sceadda a kind of fish, akin to Prov. G. schade; cf. Ir. & Gael. sgadan a herring, W. ysgadan herrings; all perhaps akin to E. skate a fish.] (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of food fishes of the Herring family. The American species (Clupea sapidissima), which is abundant on the Atlantic coast and ascends the larger rivers in spring to spawn, is an important market fish. The European allice shad, or alose (C. alosa), and the twaite shad. (C. finta), are less important species. [Written also chad.] Note: The name is loosely applied, also, to several other fishes, as the gizzard shad (see under Gizzard), called also mud shad, white-eyed shad, and winter shad. Hardboaded, or Yellow-tailed, shad, the menhaden. Hickory, or Tailor, shad, the mattowacca. Long-boned shad, one of several species of important food fishes of the Bermudas and the West Indies, of the genus Gerres. Shad bush (Bot.), a name given to the North American shrubs or small trees of the rosaceous genus Amelanchier (A. Canadensis, and A. alnifolia) Their white racemose blossoms open in April or May, when the shad appear, and the edible berries (pomes) ripen in June or July, whence they are called Juneberries. The plant is also called service tree, and Juneberry. Shad frog, an American spotted frog (Rana halecina); -- so called because it usually appears at the time when the shad begin to run in the rivers. Trout shad, the squeteague. White shad, the common shad.