fish for

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

But the president reportedly fished for advice on whether Hegseth should stay on after the president and his top officials conceded the Iran war was at least partly responsible for the Democrats retaking both the House and the Senate last week. — Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Nov. 2026

Sean Norton and Grant Garrett were fishing for marlin in the morning. — Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 8 Nov. 2026

But stocks have got so low that, in 2024, the Alaska government, in conjunction with Canada, shut down fishing for king salmon on the Yukon River and its Canadian tributaries for seven years—one complete king-salmon life cycle. — Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026

In You Can See Everything, Fielder doesn’t get quite as many opportunities to go fishing for reactions like this. — Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026

Rhymes for fish for

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