puffer fish

Definition of puffer fish

1 : any of a family (Tetraodontidae) of chiefly tropical scaleless marine bony fishes which can distend themselves to a globular form and most of which are highly poisonous

— called also blowfish, globefish, swellfish

— compare fugu

2 : any of various fish of the same order (Tetraodontiformes) as the puffer fish

Examples of puffer fish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In the test, an antibody can bind to one of the spike proteins (the antigens) that cover the surface of the virus like the spines on a puffer fish. — Jim Daley, Scientific American, "‘Breakthrough’ COVID-19 Tests Are Currently Cheap, Fast—and Not Very Accurate," 7 May 2020 USA TODAY Yangzhong, a tiny island in eastern China, was largely known for its culinary take on puffer fish before the coronavirus pandemic. — Dian Zhang, USA TODAY, "Amid coronavirus shortages, manufacturing face mask filters in China is like printing money," 30 Apr. 2020 The sculptures, which started with a puffer fish in 2012, were inspired by a trip to Florida. — Deanna Weniger, Twin Cities, "New Brighton’s Bartz brothers are building a ‘whale’ of a snow sculpture for January reveal," 23 Dec. 2019 Try the Chesapeake Bay sugar toads — a puffer fish, fried and spiked with pink peppercorns — with a hard cider or piquette from Old Westminster Winery in Maryland. — Brett Anderson, New York Times, "10 Reasons Washington Is a Great Restaurant City," 29 Oct. 2019 Too much tetrodotoxin from a puffer fish can kill a person. — Martin Finucane, BostonGlobe.com, "Boston Children’s researchers look to puffer fish as source of possible replacement for opioids," 12 June 2019 The puffer fish is comically ugly but tasty enough that adventurous eaters ignore the fact that parts of it are poisonous. — Martin Finucane, BostonGlobe.com, "Boston Children’s researchers look to puffer fish as source of possible replacement for opioids," 12 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'puffer fish.' 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

27 May 2020

Cite this Entry

“Puffer fish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/puffer%20fish. Accessed 30 May. 2020.

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