sunfish

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun the lean flesh of any of numerous American perch-like fishes of the family Centrarchidae
noun among the largest bony fish; pelagic fish having an oval compressed body with high dorsal and anal fins and caudal fin reduced to a rudder-like lobe; worldwide in warm waters
noun small carnivorous freshwater percoid fishes of North America usually having a laterally compressed body and metallic luster: crappies; black bass; bluegills; pumpkinseed

* From sun + fish. * (type of fish): Perhaps from the rounded body shape.

There was a bursting as of an exploding bladder, a slushy nastiness as of a cloven sunfish, a stench as of a thousand opened graves, and a sound that the chronicler would not put on paper. — The call of Cthulhu, H. P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft
Then there came in a great lazy sunfish, as big as a fat pig cut in half; and he seemed to have been cut in half too, and squeezed in a clothes-press till he was flat; but to all his big body and big fins he had only a little rabbit's mouth, no bigger than Tom's; and, when Tom questioned him, he answered in a little squeaky feeble voice: "I'm sure I don't know; I've lost my way. — The Water-Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby, Charles Kingsley

Type a word, a sentence, a book title, or a link to an English article. WordNet and the Classics answer.

Try

A library of classics · a vault of words · instant etymology & meaning