Adjacent Words

Shark definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SH'ARK, n. [L. carcharius; Gr. from sharp.]
1. A voracious fish of the genus Squalus, of several species. The body is oblong, tapering and rough, and some species have several rows of serrated teeth. The largest grow to the length of thirty feet.
2. A greedy artful fellow; one who fills his pockets by sly tricks. [Low.]
3. Trick; fraud; petty rapine; as, to live upon the shark. [Little used.]
4. In New England, one that lives by shifts, contrivance or stratagem.
SH'ARK, v.t. To pick up hastily, slily or in small quantities. [Low.]
SH'ARK, v.i.
1. To play the petty thief; or rather to live by shifts and petty stratagems. [In New England, the common pronunciation is shurk, but the word rarely implies fraud.]
2. To cheat; to trick. [Low.]
3. To fawn upon for a dinner; to beg.
To shark out, to slip out or escape by low artifices. [Vulgar.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: any of numerous elongate mostly marine carnivorous fishes with heterocercal caudal fins and tough skin covered with small toothlike scales
2: a person who is ruthless and greedy and dishonest
3: a person who is unusually skilled in certain ways; "a card shark" v
1: play the shark; act with trickery
2: hunt shark

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English Date: 15th century any of numerous mostly marine cartilaginous fishes of medium to large size that have a fusiform body, lateral branchial clefts, and a tough usually dull gray skin roughened by minute tubercles and are typically active predators sometimes dangerous to humans • sharklike adjective II. noun Etymology: probably modification of German Schurke scoundrel Date: 1599 1. a rapacious crafty person who takes advantage of others often through usury, extortion, or devious means <loan sharks> 2. one who excels greatly especially in a particular field III. verb Date: 1602 transitive verb 1. archaic to gather hastily 2. archaic to obtain by some irregular means intransitive verb 1. archaic to practice fraud or trickery 2. archaic sneak

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. any of various large usu. voracious marine fish with a long body and prominent dorsal fin. Etymology: 16th c.: orig. unkn. 2. n. colloq. a person who unscrupulously exploits or swindles others. Etymology: 16th c.: orig. perh. f. G Schurke worthless rogue: infl. by SHARK(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shark Shark, n. [Of uncertain origin; perhaps through OF. fr. carcharus a kind of dogfish, Gr. karchari`as, so called from its sharp teeth, fr. ka`rcharos having sharp or jagged teeth; or perhaps named from its rapacity (cf. Shark, v. t. & i.); cf. Corn. scarceas.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of elasmobranch fishes of the order Plagiostomi, found in all seas. Note: Some sharks, as the basking shark and the whale shark, grow to an enormous size, the former becoming forty feet or more, and the latter sixty feet or more, in length. Most of them are harmless to man, but some are exceedingly voracious. The man-eating sharks mostly belong to the genera Carcharhinus, Carcharodon, and related genera. They have several rows of large sharp teeth with serrated edges, as the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias, or Rondeleti) of tropical seas, and the great blue shark (Carcharhinus glaucus) of all tropical and temperate seas. The former sometimes becomes thirty-six feet long, and is the most voracious and dangerous species known. The rare man-eating shark of the United States coast (Charcarodon Atwoodi) is thought by some to be a variety, or the young, of C. carcharias. The dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus), and the smaller blue shark (C. caudatus), both common species on the coast of the United States, are of moderate size and not dangerous. They feed on shellfish and bottom fishes. 2. A rapacious, artful person; a sharper. [Colloq.] 3. Trickery; fraud; petty rapine; as, to live upon the shark. [Obs.] --South. Baskin shark, Liver shark, Nurse shark, Oil shark, Sand shark, Tiger shark, etc. See under Basking, Liver, etc. See also Dogfish, Houndfish, Notidanian, and Tope. Gray shark, the sand shark. Hammer-headed shark. See Hammerhead. Port Jackson shark. See Cestraciont. Shark barrow, the eggcase of a shark; a sea purse. Shark ray. Same as Angel fish (a), under Angel. Thrasher shark, or Thresher shark, a large, voracious shark. See Thrasher. Whale shark, a huge harmless shark (Rhinodon typicus) of the Indian Ocean. It becomes sixty feet or more in length, but has very small teeth.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shark Shark, v. t. [Of uncertain origin; perhaps fr. shark, n., or perhaps related to E. shear (as hearken to hear), and originally meaning, to clip off. Cf. Shirk.] To pick or gather indiscriminately or covertly. [Obs.] --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shark Shark, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sharked; p. pr. & vb. n. Sharking.] 1. To play the petty thief; to practice fraud or trickery; to swindle. Neither sharks for a cup or a reckoning. --Bp. Earle. 2. To live by shifts and stratagems. --Beau. & Fl.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(sharks) Note: The form 'shark' can also be used as the plural form for meaning 1. 1. A shark is a very large fish. Some sharks have very sharp teeth and may attack people. N-VAR 2. If you refer to a person as a shark, you disapprove of them because they trick people out of their money by giving bad advice about buying, selling, or investments. (INFORMAL) Beware the sharks when you are making up your mind how to invest. N-COUNT [disapproval] see also loan shark

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Sharper, cheat, swindler, blackleg, knave, trickster, artful fellow. 2. Fraud, trickery.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A sharper: perhaps from his preying upon any one he can lay hold of. Also a custom-house officer, or tide-waiter. Sharks; the first order of pickpockets. BOW- STREET TERM, A.D. 1785.

Moby Thesaurus

Admirable Crichton, Loch Ness monster, Reptilia, adept, alevin, animal, anthropophagite, artisan, artist, attache, authority, barbarian, beast, benthon, benthos, blackmailer, bloodsucker, brute, bunco artist, bunco steerer, cannibal, cardsharp, cardsharper, carpetbagger, cetacean, con artist, con man, confidence man, connaisseur, connoisseur, consultant, cordon bleu, crack shot, craftsman, crimp, dead shot, destroyer, diplomat, diplomatist, dolphin, elder statesman, experienced hand, expert, expert consultant, extortionist, fingerling, fish, fry, game fish, graduate, grilse, handy man, harpy, horse coper, horse trader, hyena, jackleg, journeyman, kipper, land pirate, land shark, land-grabber, leech, man-eater, man-eating shark, marine animal, marksman, minnow, minny, mortgage shark, nekton, nihilist, no slouch, panfish, pettifogger, pitchman, plankton, politician, porpoise, predator, pro, professional, professor, proficient, profiteer, racketeer, raptor, salmon, savage, savant, sea monster, sea pig, sea serpent, sea snake, shakedown artist, sharp, sharper, sharpie, shortchanger, shyster, slicker, smolt, spieler, sponge, statesman, technical adviser, technician, tiger, tropical fish, vampire, vandal, vulture, whale, wild man, wrecker