herring : Idioms & Phrases

• noun important food fish; found in enormous shoals in the northern Atlantic
  Clupea harengus harengus.
  

WordNet

• . See Alewife.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), a herring of the Atlantic (Clupea mediocris); also called tailor herring, and hickory shad.

Webster 1913

• noun large gull of the northern hemisphere
  Larus argentatus.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), a large gull which feeds in part upon herrings; esp., Larus argentatus in America, and L. cachinnans in England. See Gull.

Webster 1913

• noun the common porpoise of the northern Atlantic and Pacific
  harbor porpoise; Phocoena phocoena.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), the common porpoise.

Webster 1913

• noun based on pickled herring
  

WordNet

• noun thin deep-water tropical fish 20 to 30 feet long having a red dorsal fin
  Regalecus glesne; oarfish; ribbonfish; king of the herring.
  

WordNet

• noun thin deep-water tropical fish 20 to 30 feet long having a red dorsal fin
  Regalecus glesne; oarfish; ribbonfish; king of the herring.
  

WordNet

• . (Zoöl.) (a) The chimæra (C. monstrosa) which follows the schools of herring. See Chimæra. (b) The opah.

Webster 1913

• noun salted and smoked herring
  kipper.
  

WordNet

• noun cold-water fish caught in Lake Superior and northward
  cisco.
  
• noun important food fish of cold deep lakes of North America
  cisco; Coregonus artedi.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), the cisco (Coregonus Artedii).

Webster 1913

• noun important food fish of the northern Pacific
  Clupea harengus pallasii.
  

WordNet

Pic"kle-her"ring noun

Definitions

1. A herring preserved in brine; a pickled herring. Obs. Shak.
2. A merry-andrew; a buffoon. Obs. Addison.

Webster 1913

• noun herring preserved in a pickling liquid (usually brine or vinegar)
  

WordNet

• noun any diversion intended to distract attention from the main issue
  
• noun a dried and smoked herring having a reddish color
  red herring.
  
• noun a first draft of a prospectus; must be clearly marked to indicate that parts may be changed in the final prospectus
  preliminary prospectus.
  
  • because some portions of the cover page are printed in red ink a preliminary prospectus is sometimes called a red herring

WordNet

• the common herring dried and smoked. Fig. something that merely distracts attention from the basic issue; esp. something irrelevant to the issue at hand, or something which is not true or does not exist.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), an alewife.

Webster 1913

• noun a dried and smoked herring having a reddish color
  red herring.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), the gizzard shad. See under Gizzard.

Webster 1913

• a fresh, or unsmoked, herring, as distinguished from a red, or cured, herring. R. Shak.

Webster 1913