weakfish

noun

weak·​fish ˈwēk-ˌfish How to pronounce weakfish (audio)
1
: a common marine bony fish (Cynoscion regalis of the family Sciaenidae) of the eastern coast of the U.S. that is an important sport and food fish

called also sea trout

2
: any of several fishes congeneric with the weakfish

Examples of weakfish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Hundreds of millions of the little, silvery fish play a crucial role in the ecology of coastal waters all along the Eastern Seaboard, feeding bigger fish like striped bass and weakfish; marine mammals including whales and dolphins; and birds like bald eagles, great blue herons and brown pelicans. Jon Hurdle, New York Times, 11 July 2023 Overfishing probably wasn’t the cause of the weakfish’s latest decline. Capt. John McMurray, Field & Stream, 10 Feb. 2020 The fishing was better there, anyway: Trump and his buddies fished all day long, hauling in fluke, weakfish, and porgies, while beachgoers admired the boat from afar. Thomas J. Campanella, The New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2019 Climate change was expected to make staple crops less nutritious and to lower the global availability of protein by a fifth, and may alter the mating calls of male weakfish. Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harper's magazine, 16 Sep. 2019 Also, look for weakfish in Guilford/Madison/New Haven Harbor areas. Hartford Courant, courant.com, 31 Aug. 2017 Most commonly taken are fluke, striped bass, weakfish, porgies and striped sea robins. Frank Cohen, courant.com, 17 May 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'weakfish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

obsolete Dutch weekvis, from Dutch week soft + vis fish

First Known Use

1791, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of weakfish was in 1791

Dictionary Entries Near weakfish

Cite this Entry

“Weakfish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/weakfish. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

weakfish

noun
weak·​fish ˈwēk-ˌfish How to pronounce weakfish (audio)
: a common fish of the eastern coast of the U.S. that is an important food and sport fish
also : any of several related fishes used for food

More from Merriam-Webster on weakfish

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