1. [n]  any of various mostly cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates usually having scales and breathing through gills; "the shark is a large fish"; "in the livingroom there was a tank of colorful fish"
2. [n]  the flesh of fish used as food; "in Japan most fish is eaten raw"; "after the scare about foot-and-mouth disease a lot of people started eating fish instead of meat"; "they have a chef who specializes in fish"
3. [n]  the twelfth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about February 19 to March 20
4. [n]  (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Pisces
5. [v]  catch or try to catch fish or shellfish; "I like to go fishing on weekends"
6. [v]  seek indirectly; "fish for compliments"

1. \Fish\, n. [F. fiche peg, mark, fr. fisher to fix.]
   A counter, used in various games.
   

2. \Fish\, n.; pl. {Fishes}, or collectively, {Fish}. [OE.
   fisch, fisc, fis, AS. fisc; akin to D. visch, OS. & OHG.
   fisk, G. fisch, Icel. fiskr, Sw. & Dan. fisk, Goth. fisks, L.
   piscis, Ir. iasg. Cf. {Piscatorial}. In some cases, such as
   fish joint, fish plate, this word has prob. been confused
   with fish, fr. F. fichea peg.]
   1. A name loosely applied in popular usage to many animals of
      diverse characteristics, living in the water.
   2. (Zo["o]l.) An oviparous, vertebrate animal usually having
      fins and a covering scales or plates. It breathes by means
      of gills, and lives almost entirely in the water. See
      {Pisces}.
   Note: The true fishes include the Teleostei (bony fishes),
         Ganoidei, Dipnoi, and Elasmobranchii or Selachians
         (sharks and skates). Formerly the leptocardia and
         Marsipobranciata were also included, but these are now
         generally regarded as two distinct classes, below the
         fishes.
   3. pl. The twelfth sign of the zodiac; Pisces.
   4. The flesh of fish, used as food.
   5. (Naut.)
      (a) A purchase used to fish the anchor.
      (b) A piece of timber, somewhat in the form of a fish,
          used to strengthen a mast or yard.
   Note: Fish is used adjectively or as part of a compound word;
         as, fish line, fish pole, fish spear, fish-bellied.
   {Age of Fishes}. See under {Age}, n., 8.
   {Fish ball}, fish (usually salted codfish) shared fine, mixed
      with mashed potato, and made into the form of a small,
      round cake. [U.S.]
   {Fish bar}. Same as {Fish plate} (below).
   {Fish beam} (Mech.), a beam one of whose sides (commonly the
      under one) swells out like the belly of a fish. --Francis.
   {Fish crow} (Zo["o]l.), a species of crow ({Corvus
      ossifragus}), found on the Atlantic coast of the United
      States. It feeds largely on fish.
   {Fish culture}, the artifical breeding and rearing of fish;
      pisciculture.
   {Fish davit}. See {Davit}.
   {Fish day}, a day on which fish is eaten; a fast day.
   {Fish duck} (Zo["o]l.), any species of merganser.
   {Fish fall}, the tackle depending from the fish davit, used
      in hauling up the anchor to the gunwale of a ship.
   {Fish garth}, a dam or weir in a river for keeping fish or
      taking them easily.
   {Fish glue}. See {Isinglass}.
   {Fish joint}, a joint formed by a plate or pair of plates
      fastened upon two meeting beams, plates, etc., at their
      junction; -- used largely in connecting the rails of
      railroads.
   {Fish kettle}, a long kettle for boiling fish whole.
   {Fish ladder}, a dam with a series of steps which fish can
      leap in order to ascend falls in a river.
   {Fish line}, or {Fishing line}, a line made of twisted hair,
      silk, etc., used in angling.
   {Fish louse} (Zo["o]l.), any crustacean parasitic on fishes,
      esp. the parasitic Copepoda, belonging to {Caligus},
      {Argulus}, and other related genera. See {Branchiura}.
   {Fish maw} (Zo["o]l.), the stomach of a fish; also, the air
      bladder, or sound.
   {Fish meal}, fish desiccated and ground fine, for use in
      soups, etc.
   {Fish oil}, oil obtained from the bodies of fish and marine
      animals, as whales, seals, sharks, from cods' livers, etc.
   {Fish owl} (Zo["o]l.), a fish-eating owl of the Old World
      genera {Scotopelia} and {Ketupa}, esp. a large East Indian
      species ({K. Ceylonensis}).
   {Fish plate}, one of the plates of a fish joint.
   {Fish pot}, a wicker basket, sunk, with a float attached, for
      catching crabs, lobsters, etc.
   {Fish pound}, a net attached to stakes, for entrapping and
      catching fish; a weir. [Local, U.S.] --Bartlett.
   {Fish slice}, a broad knife for dividing fish at table; a
      fish trowel.
   {Fish slide}, an inclined box set in a stream at a small
      fall, or ripple, to catch fish descending the current.
      --Knight.
   {Fish sound}, the air bladder of certain fishes, esp. those
      that are dried and used as food, or in the arts, as for
      the preparation of isinglass.
   {Fish story}, a story which taxes credulity; an extravagant
      or incredible narration. [Colloq. U.S.] --Bartlett.
   {Fish strainer}.
      (a) A metal colander, with handles, for taking fish from a
          boiler.
      (b) A perforated earthenware slab at the bottom of a dish,
          to drain the water from a boiled fish.
   {Fish trowel}, a fish slice.
   {Fish} {weir or wear}, a weir set in a stream, for catching
      fish.
   {Neither fish nor flesh} (Fig.), neither one thing nor the
      other.
   

3. \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.
   

4. \Fish\, v. t. [OE. fischen, fisken, fissen, AS. fiscian;
   akin to G. fischen, OHG. fisc?n, Goth. fisk?n. See {Fish} the
   animal.]
   1. To catch; to draw out or up; as, to fish up an anchor.
   2. To search by raking or sweeping. --Swift.
   3. To try with a fishing rod; to catch fish in; as, to fish a
      stream. --Thackeray.
   4. To strengthen (a beam, mast, etc.), or unite end to end
      (two timbers, railroad rails, etc.) by bolting a plank,
      timber, or plate to the beam, mast, or timbers, lengthwise
      on one or both sides. See {Fish joint}, under {Fish}, n.
   {To fish the anchor}. (Naut.) See under {Anchor}.
   

(Adelaide University, Australia) 1. Another metasyntactic variable. See foo. Derived originally from the Monty Python skit in the middle of "The Meaning of Life" entitled "Find the Fish".

2. microfiche. A microfiche file cabinet may be referred to as a "fish tank".

[Jargon File]

called _dag_ by the Hebrews, a word denoting great fecundity (Gen. 9:2; Num. 11:22; Jonah 2:1, 10). No fish is mentioned by name either in the Old or in the New Testament. Fish abounded in the Mediterranean and in the lakes of the Jordan, so that the Hebrews were no doubt acquainted with many species. Two of the villages on the shores of the Sea of Galilee derived their names from their fisheries, Bethsaida (the "house of fish") on the east and on the west. There is probably no other sheet of water in the world of equal dimensions that contains such a variety and profusion of fish. About thirty-seven different kinds have been found. Some of the fishes are of a European type, such as the roach, the barbel, and the blenny; others are markedly African and tropical, such as the eel-like silurus. There was a regular fish-market apparently in Jerusalem (2 Chr. 33:14; Neh. 3:3; 12:39; Zeph. 1:10), as there was a fish-gate which was probably contiguous to it.

Sidon is the oldest fishing establishment known in history.