henfish

English

Alternative forms

• hen-fish, hen fish

Etymology

From hen +‎ fish.

Noun

henfish (plural henfish)

1. A marine fish, the sea bream.
2. A young bib.
3. A female fish, especially a salmon or trout.

   Synonyms: spawner, hen

   Coordinate terms: cock, cockfish

   • 2005, Roderick Sutterby, Malcolm Greenhalgh, “Life in the Nursery”, in Atlantic Salmon: An Illustrated Natural History, Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 23:

     Spawning fish on the redds. A henfish will often be attended by two or three cockfish – whilst displaying ritual combat between themselves, one cock will mate, others may follow [image caption]

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “henfish”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)