mackerel


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mack·er·el

 (măk′ər-əl, măk′rəl)
n. pl. mackerel or mack·er·els
1. Any of various marine fishes of the family Scombridae, especially Scomber scombrus of the North Atlantic Ocean, a predatory food fish having dark wavy bars on the back and a silvery belly.
2. Any of various similar fishes, such as the horse mackerels.

[Middle English makerel, from Old French maquerel.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mackerel

(ˈmækrəl)
n, pl -rel or -rels
1. (Animals) a spiny-finned food fish, Scomber scombrus, occurring in northern coastal regions of the Atlantic and in the Mediterranean: family Scombridae. It has a deeply forked tail and a greenish-blue body marked with wavy dark bands on the back. Compare Spanish mackerel1
2. (Animals) any of various other fishes of the family Scombridae, such as Scomber colias (Spanish mackerel) and S. japonicus (Pacific mackerel)
[C13: from Anglo-French, from Old French maquerel, of unknown origin]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mack•er•el

(ˈmæk ər əl, ˈmæk rəl)

n., pl. (esp. collectively) -el, (esp. for kinds or species) -els.
1. any of various scombrid fishes, esp. a food fish, Scomber scombrus, of the N Atlantic, having wavy cross markings on the back.
[1250–1300; Middle English ma(c)kerel(l) < Old French, perhaps same word as Middle French maquerel pimp]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.mackerel - flesh of very important usually small (to 18 in) fatty Atlantic fishmackerel - flesh of very important usually small (to 18 in) fatty Atlantic fish
common mackerel, Scomber scombrus, shiner - important food fish of the northern Atlantic and Mediterranean; its body is greenish-blue with dark bars and small if any scales
saltwater fish - flesh of fish from the sea used as food
Spanish mackerel - flesh of commercially important fishes especially of the Atlantic coastal waters of America
smoked mackerel - mackerel cured by smoking
2.mackerel - any of various fishes of the family Scombridaemackerel - any of various fishes of the family Scombridae
scombroid, scombroid fish - important marine food and game fishes found in all tropical and temperate seas; some are at least partially endothermic and can thrive in colder waters
family Scombridae, Scombridae - marine food fishes: mackerels; chub mackerels; tuna
common mackerel, Scomber scombrus, shiner - important food fish of the northern Atlantic and Mediterranean; its body is greenish-blue with dark bars and small if any scales
Scomber colias, Spanish mackerel - medium-sized mackerel of temperate Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico
chub mackerel, Scomber japonicus, tinker - small mackerel found nearly worldwide
Acanthocybium solandri, wahoo - large fast-moving predacious food and game fish; found worldwide
Spanish mackerel - any of several large marine food fishes of the genus Scomberomorus
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
إسْقُمْرِيّالأسْقُمْري: سَمك بَحْريلَحْم سَمَك الأسْقُمْري
скумрия
makrela
makrel
makrilli
skuša
makréla
makríll
サバ
고등어
scomber
skumbrė
makreleskumbrija
macrou
makrela
skuša
skušaскуша
makrill
ปลาแม็กเคอเรล
скумбрія
cá thu

mackerel

[ˈmækrəl]
A. N (mackerel or mackerels (pl)) → caballa f
B. CPD mackerel sky Ncielo m aborregado
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

mackerel

[ˈmækərəl] [mackerel] (pl) n (= fish) → maquereau m
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

mackerel

nMakrele f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

mackerel

[ˈmækrl] n pl invsgombro
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

mackerel

(ˈmӕkrəl) plurals ˈmackerel ~ˈmackerels noun
1. a type of edible sea-fish, bluish green with wavy markings. They are fishing for mackerel; two mackerels.
2. its flesh as food. fried mackerel.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

mackerel

إسْقُمْرِيّ makrela makrel Makrele σκουμπρί caballa makrilli maquereau skuša sgombro サバ 고등어 makreel makrell makrela cavala скумбрия makrill ปลาแม็กเคอเรล uskumru cá thu
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
References in classic literature ?
"I had salt mackerel for breakfast," answered Rebecca.
"If I had not loved mackerel I should not have been thirsty;" said Rebecca with an April smile, as she closed her grammar.
They first caught crabs and quohogs in the sand; grown bolder, they waded out with nets for mackerel; more experienced, they pushed off in boats and captured cod; and at last, launching a navy of great ships on the sea, explored this watery world; put an incessant belt of circumnavigations round it; peeped in at Behring's Straits; and in all seasons and all oceans declared everlasting war with the mightiest animated mass that has survived the flood; most monstrous and most mountainous!
The sky was what is called a mackerel sky--rows and rows of faint down-plumes of cloud, just tinted with the midsummer sunset.
You know in those days hundreds of American fishing schooners used to come down to the Gulf every summer to fish mackerel. On one beautiful Saturday night in this October of 1851, more than one hundred of these vessels could be counted from Markdale Capes.
With energetic raps at the shop-window, Hepzibah summoned the man in, and made purchase of what he warranted as the finest mackerel in his cart, and as fat a one as ever he felt with his finger so early in the season.
"We were returning from Ostend, where some mackerel had already been seen, when a sharp wind from the south drove us from our course; then, seeing that it was useless to struggle against it, we let it drive us.
During their games, their bounds, while rivalling each other in beauty, brightness, and velocity, I distinguished the green labre; the banded mullet, marked by a double line of black; the round-tailed goby, of a white colour, with violet spots on the back; the Japanese scombrus, a beautiful mackerel of these seas, with a blue body and silvery head; the brilliant azurors, whose name alone defies description; some banded spares, with variegated fins of blue and yellow; the woodcocks of the seas, some specimens of which attain a yard in length; Japanese salamanders, spider lampreys, serpents six feet long, with eyes small and lively, and a huge mouth bristling with teeth; with many other species.
Whenever I go home I take her canned salmon and mackerel.'
In the west was a sky of mackerel clouds-- crimson and amber-tinted, with long strips of apple-green sky between.
Glancing at Jeremiah, Clennam saw in his very gaiters that his attention was closely directed to them, though he stood leaning against the wall scraping his jaw, and pretended to listen to Flora as she held forth in a most distracting manner on a chaos of subjects, in which mackerel, and Mr F.'s Aunt in a swing, had become entangled with cockchafers and the wine trade.
The low sun made the water all purple and pinkish, with golden lights on the barrels of the long swells, and blue and green mackerel shades in the hollows.