\Pick"er*el\, n. [Dim. of {Pike}.] [Written also
{pickerell}.]
1. A young or small pike. [Obs.]
         Bet [better] is, quoth he, a pike than a pickerel.
                                               --Chaucer.
2. (Zo["o]l.)
   (a) Any one of several species of freshwater fishes of the
       genus {Esox}, esp. the smaller species.
   (b) The glasseye, or wall-eyed pike. See {Wall-eye}.
Note: The federation, or chain, pickerel ({Esox reticulatus})
      and the brook pickerel ({E. Americanus}) are the most
      common American species. They are used for food, and
      are noted for their voracity. About the Great Lakes the
      pike is called pickerel.
{Pickerel weed} (Bot.), a blue-flowered aquatic plant
   ({Pontederia cordata}) having large arrow-shaped leaves.
   So called because common in slow-moving waters where
   pickerel are often found.