sockeye salmon

noun

sock·​eye salmon ˈsäk-ˌī- 

: a commercially important Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) that is greenish blue above and silvery below when sexually immature and turns red with a greenish head when ascending rivers to spawn which it does chiefly from the Columbia northward

called also red salmon, sockeye

compare kokanee

Examples of sockeye salmon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The McCarthy haunt has 10 tables, with a rotating and delectable menu that includes kimchi fried rice, wagyu sirloin steaks, and sockeye salmon. —Stephanie Vermillion, Travel + Leisure, 27 Apr. 2025

Katmai is home to a massive sockeye salmon run, and Brooks Falls provides a natural barrier to the fish migrating up Brooks River. —Erin Donaghue, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Oct. 2024

Patagonia sources from across the map, including anchovies from Spain and sockeye salmon from Alaska. —Mackenzie Chung Fegan, Bon Appétit, 11 Mar. 2025

The younger Gillam roamed drainages that sustain the world’s largest sockeye salmon runs. —ProPublica, 13 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

by folk etymology from Northern Straits (Salishan language of southern Vancouver Island and nearby islands) sə́qəy̓

First Known Use

1869, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for sockeye salmon

• backgammon
• examen
• examine
• glutamine
• famine
• gammon
• mammon
• reexamine