dogfish

noun

dog·fish | \ ˈdȯg-ˌfish

How to pronounce dogfish (audio)

\

Definition of dogfish

: any of various usually small bottom-dwelling sharks (as of the families Squalidae, Carcharhinidae, and Scyliorhinidae) that often appear in schools near shore, prey chiefly on fish and invertebrates, and are a valuable food source

Examples of dogfish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Instead, Currie’s nets caught mostly gurnards, Cape horse mackerel, spiny dogfish, and shallow-water hake, and white sea catfish, which together made up 85 percent of Currie’s catch, compared with a historical three percent. — Petro Kotzé, Smithsonian Magazine, "Scientists Recreate 1890s Fishing Surveys to Show How the Sea Has Changed," 29 Dec. 2020 Last month alone, Massachusetts fisherman landed over a million pounds of dogfish. — BostonGlobe.com, "A short documentary exploring climate change on Cape Cod," 26 Sep. 2019 Bennett is bringing in big catches of something that Cape fishermen once tossed back in disgust: a species of small shark called spiny dogfish. — BostonGlobe.com, "A short documentary exploring climate change on Cape Cod," 26 Sep. 2019 Unsurprisingly, the cod ended up with lower mercury levels than the dogfish. — Linda Carroll, NBC News, "Climate change and overfishing could lead to higher mercury levels in fish," 7 Aug. 2019 The sharks were two species of deep-sea dogfish commonly found deep waters along our continental margin, NOAA reported. — Marcy De Luna, Houston Chronicle, "Watch this fish eat an entire shark in rare moment captured by NOAA Okeanos Explorer," 18 July 2019 The others were Genie's dogfish, named in honor of Mote Marine Laboratory founder Eugenie 'Shark Lady' Clark, which were determined to be a distinct species in 2018, NOAA reported. — Marcy De Luna, Houston Chronicle, "Watch this fish eat an entire shark in rare moment captured by NOAA Okeanos Explorer," 18 July 2019 In 2016, a team working with OceanGate, an organization that provides subsea research and exploration, filmed a sixgill shark alongside dogfish near British Columbia’s Desolation Sound. — Fox News, "Mysterious deep-sea shark that's older than the dinosaurs captured on film," 9 July 2019 Dixson and co-authors found that after 5 days in water with high levels of CO2, sharks called smooth dogfish avoided the smell of their prey. — Elizabeth Preston, Science | AAAS, "A growing sensory smog threatens the ability of fish to communicate, navigate, and survive," 20 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dogfish.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

15 Jan 2021

Cite this Entry

“Dogfish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dogfish. Accessed 25 Feb. 2021.

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More Definitions for dogfish

dogfish

noun

dog·fish | \ ˈdȯg-ˌfish

\

Kids Definition of dogfish

: a small shark often seen near shore

dogfish

noun

dog·fish | \ -ˌfish

\

Medical Definition of dogfish

: any of various small sharks (as of the families Squalidae, Carcharhinidae, and Scyliorhinidae) that often appear in schools near shore, prey chiefly on fish and invertebrates, and are a valuable food source

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