Adjacent Words

swordfish definitions

	Tweet

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: flesh of swordfish usually served as steaks
2: large toothless marine food fish with a long swordlike upper jaw; not completely cold-blooded i.e. they are able to warm their brains and eyes: worldwide in warm waters but feed on cold ocean floor coming to surface at night [syn: swordfish, Xiphias gladius]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 15th century a very large scombroid fish (Xiphias gladius of the family Xiphiidae) that has a long swordlike beak formed by the bones of the upper jaw and is an important food and game fish

Britannica Concise

Species (Xiphias gladius) of prized food and game fish, found in warm and temperate oceans worldwide. A slender, scaleless fish, it has a tall dorsal fin and a long sword, used for slashing at prey fishes, extending from its snout. The sword is flat, rather than rounded as in marlins. The swordfish is also distinguished by its lack of teeth and pelvic fins. It is purplish or bluish above, silvery below, and grows as large as 15 ft (4.5 m) and 1,000 lbs (450 kg). Though a popular food fish, it may concentrate dangerous levels of mercury in its flesh.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a large marine fish, Xiphias gladius, with an extended swordlike upper jaw.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Swordfish Sword"fish`, n. 1. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A very large oceanic fish (Xiphias gladius), the only representative of the family Xiphiid[ae]. It is highly valued as a food fish. The bones of the upper jaw are consolidated, and form a long, rigid, swordlike beak; the dorsal fin is high and without distinct spines; the ventral fins are absent. The adult is destitute of teeth. It becomes sixteen feet or more long. (b) The gar pike. (c) The cutlass fish. 2. (Astron.) A southern constellation. See Dorado, 1. Swordfish sucker (Zo["o]l.), a remora (Remora brachyptera) which attaches itself to the swordfish.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cutlass Cut"lass (k[u^]t"las), n.; pl. Cutlasses (-[e^]z). [F. coutelas (cf. It. coltellaccio), augm. fr. L. cultellus a small knife, dim. of culter knife. See Colter, and cf. Curtal ax.] A short, heavy, curving sword, used in the navy. See Curtal ax. Cutlass fish, (Zo["o]l.), a peculiar, long, thin, marine fish (Trichiurus lepturus) of the southern United States and West Indies; -- called also saber fish, silver eel, and, improperly, swordfish.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(swordfish) A swordfish is a large sea fish with a very long upper jaw. N-VAR • Swordfish is this fish eaten as food. ...grilled swordfish with a yogurt dressing.