pilot fish

noun

: a pelagic carangid fish (Naucrates ductor) that has dark vertical stripes and often swims in company with a shark

Examples of pilot fish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Super Bowl was the leviathan in whose eddying wake the pilot fish feed. —Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025

Most of the attackers are just pilot fish, trying to outdo one another in being vicious in their sycophancy. —Liz Smith, Vulture, 31 Jan. 2024

Youngblood plays Baby's best pal William, a quick-witted pilot fish who can be quite the jokester. —Katie Campione, PEOPLE.com, 25 Mar. 2021

Not unlike sharks and the pilot fish that clean their teeth, the Kardashian family and the design duo Dolce & Gabbana have established a symbiotic relationship wherein everyone is benefiting. —Rory Satran, WSJ, 26 Sep. 2022

As an attorney, Caplan thought of himself as a pilot fish. —Elizabeth MacBride, Forbes, 4 June 2022

In the middle, a truck driven by Jeff Deese serves as a pilot fish for the tanker. —al, 28 Feb. 2022

That will be decided by the biggest of the big fish; the rest of us will follow, attaching like pilot fish. —Richard E. Farley, Town & Country, 26 July 2015

Word History

First Known Use

1592, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for pilot fish

• cuttlefish
• jellyfish
• sablefish
• bluefish
• catfish
• codfish
• crawfish
• dogfish
• finfish
• flatfish
• goldfish
• groundfish

Kids Definition

pilot fish

noun

: a fish with a narrow body and a widely forked tail that often swims near a shark