FLATFISH (flatfishes)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: flatfishes   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does flatfish mean? 

• FLATFISH (noun)
  The noun FLATFISH has 2 senses:

1. sweet lean whitish flesh of any of numerous thin-bodied fish; usually served as thin fillets

2. any of several families of fishes having flattened bodies that swim along the sea floor on one side of the body with both eyes on the upper side

  Familiarity information: FLATFISH used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FLATFISH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Sweet lean whitish flesh of any of numerous thin-bodied fish; usually served as thin fillets

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("flatfish" is a kind of...):

saltwater fish (flesh of fish from the sea used as food)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flatfish"):

flounder (flesh of any of various American and European flatfish)

fillet of sole; sole (lean flesh of any of several flatfish)

halibut (lean flesh of very large flatfish of Atlantic or Pacific)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any of several families of fishes having flattened bodies that swim along the sea floor on one side of the body with both eyes on the upper side

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("flatfish" is a kind of...):

acanthopterygian; spiny-finned fish (a teleost fish with fins that are supported by sharp inflexible rays)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flatfish"):

flounder (any of various European and non-European marine flatfish)

righteye flounder; righteyed flounder (flounders with both eyes on the right side of the head)

halibut; holibut (marine food fish of the northern Atlantic or northern Pacific; the largest flatfish and one of the largest teleost fishes)

lefteye flounder; lefteyed flounder (flatfishes with both eyes on the left side of the head)

tongue-fish; tonguefish (left-eyed marine flatfish whose tail tapers to a point; of little commercial value)

sole (right-eyed flatfish; many are valued as food; most common in warm seas especially European)

Holonyms ("flatfish" is a member of...):

Heterosomata; order Heterosomata; order Pleuronectiformes (flatfishes: halibut; sole; flounder; plaice; turbot; tonguefishes)