catfish
any of the numerous fishes of the order or suborder Nematognathi (or Siluroidei), characterized by barbels around the mouth and the absence of scales.
a wolffish of the genus Anarhichas.
any of various other fishes having a fancied resemblance to a cat.
Slang. a person who assumes a false identity or personality on the internet, especially on social media websites, as to deceive, manipulate, or swindle.
Slang. to deceive, swindle, etc., by assuming a false identity or personality online: He fell in love with her online before he realized he'd been catfished.
Origin of catfish
1Words Nearby catfish
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use catfish in a sentence
I love spending time on our family’s ranch just north of Laredo, the kids’ cheeks flushed with heat as they drop food in the dam for the catfish that roil the murky water.
For proof, taste the cafe’s fresh local chicken sprinkled with herbs and slow-baked to succulence, or catfish dusted with cornmeal and flour and fried to a beautiful shade of gold.
After your run, take a boat out on the lake, go for a swim, or cast for catfish and bass.
On “The Circle,” contestants living in their own apartments talk to each other through a social media-like chat platform, with the goal of becoming the top influencer and sniffing out catfishes.
Lions, tigers, bears, love? Netflix’s ‘Sexy Beasts’ baffles the Internet. | Annabel Aguiar | June 24, 2021 | Washington PostIts competitors don’t use this method to see who’s a catfish and who isn’t, because they don’t want to out anyone that doesn’t want to be outed.
Latta, home to the historic catfish Creek Baptist Church, is a predominantly white town of 1,500 in Dillon County.
A sop to lawmakers who represent congressional districts consisting entirely of catfish ponds.
Up to a Point: P.J. O’Rourke on Valentine’s Day and Oral Hygiene | P. J. O’Rourke | February 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThey claim FDA did not have proper resources to inspect imported catfish.
Up to a Point: P.J. O’Rourke on Valentine’s Day and Oral Hygiene | P. J. O’Rourke | February 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBad news is that foreign fishermen will have to bring each catfish to Washington for inspection.
Up to a Point: P.J. O’Rourke on Valentine’s Day and Oral Hygiene | P. J. O’Rourke | February 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTGood news is that $20 million DoA catfish office has comfy chairs and recent issues of catfish newsletters and magazines.
Up to a Point: P.J. O’Rourke on Valentine’s Day and Oral Hygiene | P. J. O’Rourke | February 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI catched a good big catfish, too, and Jim cleaned him with his knife, and fried him.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete | Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)I catched a catfish and haggled him open with my saw, and towards sundown I started my camp fire and had supper.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete | Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)Channel catfish from stations W-3, A-3, and C-5 were taken on hook and line.
Fishes of Chautauqua, Cowley and Elk Counties, Kansas | Artie L. MetcalfIt is situated a short distance over the top of the hill leading up from catfish, and a little over a mile from Washington.
The Old Pike | Thomas B. SearightHe opened up business in 1781, and was licensed by the court to dispense the ardent at “catfish Camp.”
The Old Pike | Thomas B. Searight
British Dictionary definitions for catfish
/ (ˈkætˌfɪʃ) /
any of numerous mainly freshwater teleost fishes having whisker-like barbels around the mouth, esp the silurids of Europe and Asia and the horned pouts of North America
another name for wolffish
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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