fish for

phrasal verb

fished for; fishing for; fishes for

: to ask for or try to get (something, such as praise or attention) in an indirect way

I think he offers apologies for his cooking as a way of fishing for compliments.

fishing for answers

Examples of fish for in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Plimsoll Productions, the company behind natural history titles such as Apple’s Tiny World and Disney+’s A Bug’s Life, is fishing for a U.S. sale of its shark infested reality competition series. —Peter White, Deadline, 14 July 2025

But if the broker is just fishing for clients, promising insider information from a landlord who didn’t hire them — well, that’s out of bounds, per Andrew Lieb, a real-estate lawyer. —Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 11 July 2025

In addition to wine tasting for the adults, there was fishing for the whole family. —Angel Saunders, People.com, 9 July 2025

Jim Michie, from Columbia, South Carolina, had fished for sharks on Padre Island in Texas and had helped introduce Walter Maxwell to shark fishing from piers. —Donald Millus, Outdoor Life, 3 July 2025

Rhymes for fish for

• abhor
• abor
• adore
• afore
• ardour
• ashore
• backdoor
• before
• bookstore
• candour
• centaur
• claymore