minnow
Syllables: min·now/ˈmɪnəʊ/US/ˈmɪnoʊ/
minnow noun: any of certain small fish.
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Noun
minnow (plural minnows)
- Any of certain small fish.
- I have obſerved, as I have ſat by a ſpout of vvater, vvhich decſends from a ſtone trough about tvvo feet into a ſtream belovv, at particular ſeaſons of the year, a great number of little fiſh called minums, or pinks, throvv themſelves about tvventy times their ovvn length out of the vvater...1794, Erasmus Darwin, “Sect. XVI. Of Instinct.”, in Zoonomia; or, The Laws of Organic Life, volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, paragraph 6, page 175
- I wonder King George is let venture down on this coast, where he might be snapped up in a moment like a minnow by a her'n, so near as we be to the field of Boney's vagaries!1904, Thomas Hardy, The Dynasts: A Drama of the Napoleonic Wars, […], part first, London: Macmillan and Co.: New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, Act II, scene iv, page 74
- The common minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus), a small freshwater fish of the carp family Cyprinidae which has a green back with black elongated blotches, commonly swimming in large shoals.
- Most minnows are small fish with cycloid scales, soft rays supporting their fins, and toothless jaws. Some possess barbels on their upper jaw, and many species develop nuptial tubercles during the breeding season. […] Minnows are arguably the most difficult group of freshwater fishes to identify...2004, Robert G. Werner, “Carps and Minnows: Family Cyprinidae”, in Freshwater Fishes of the Northeastern United States: A Field Guide, Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, →ISBN, page 74
- Chiefly with a qualifying word: That fish or any of a number of other (small) fish from the family Cyprinidae.
- Any of those fish or other small (usually freshwater) fish from other families.
- Synonym of galaxiid (“any member of the family Galaxiidae of mostly small freshwater fish of the Southern Hemisphere”); specifically, the common galaxias, inanga, or jollytail (Galaxias maculatus).
- Synonym of stickleback (family Gasterosteidae).
- In quiet, sheltered places, where the water is clear but does not run too swiftly, the ‘minnie,’ as the stickleback is locally called, makes its nest by the bank. […] On these fibres the ova are deposited, and they are then either purposely partly covered with sand by the minnie, or else the...1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter XIX, in Wild Life in a Southern County […], London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 356
- A person or thing of relatively little consequence, importance, or value.
- Let him denie that there was another shewe made of the little minnow his Brother, Dodrans Dicke, at Peter-houſe, called, Duns furens. Dick Harvey in a frenſie.1596, Tho[mas] Nashe, “Dialogus”, in Haue with You to Saffron-Walden. Or, Gabriell Harveys Hunt is Up. […], London: […] John Danter, →OCLC; republished as J[ohn] P[ayne] C[ollier], editor, Have with...
- Heare you this Triton of the Minnoues?c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Synonyms:
- nobody, no one, small fry, small potatoes, absolute zero, also-ran, chopped liver, cipher, crumb, Joe Nobody
- a team that is considered less skilled and not expected to win many, if any, of its matches.
- Germany, once a great footballing nation, four-time world champion, has shrunk to a footballing minnow.2026 June 30, Kate Connolly, quoting Peter Ahrens, “Unhappy families: Matthäus claims Germany travel plans caused World Cup rift”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
- An artificial bait in the form of a small fish.
- […] I have (which I will show you) an artificial minnow, that will catch a trout as well as an artificial fly, and it was made by a handsome woman that had a fine hand, and a live minnow lying by her: […]1676, Izaak Walton, “[The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation: Part I […].] More Directions How to Fish for, and How to Make for the Trout an Artificial Minnow and Flies; with Some...
Adjective
minnow
Verb
minnow (third-person singular simple present minnows, present participle minnowing, simple past and past participle minnowed)
minnow meaning in Tamil and Thai
minnow in Tamil
- நமது பூமியில் காணப்படும், மீன் இனங்களில் ஒன்றாகும்
minnow in Thai
- any small fish
- ซิว siu
- Phoxinus phoxinus
- ซิว siu
Examples of minnow in a sentence
- Most minnows are small fish with cycloid scales, soft rays supporting their fins, and toothless jaws.2004, Robert G. Werner, “Carps and Minnows: Family Cyprinidae”, in Freshwater Fishes of the Northeastern United States: A Field Guide...
- But it remains a minnow compared with its Swedish predecessor, which employed 15,000 people and made $1.5bn in revenues during its last financial year in Russia.2023 December 23, Daria Mosolova, “Russian copycat start-ups rush to fill gaps left by exodus of western brands”, in FT Weekend (Companies...
- Trump reserved his steepest rates not for America’s more economically advanced trading partners, but for economic minnows across Africa and Asia.2025 April 10, Ned Temko, “On tariffs, Trump moves forward, and back. What does it herald for trade?”, in The Christian Science Monitor:
Synonyms of minnow
22 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of minnow
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | minnows |
| alternative form | minnie |
| alternative form | minny |
| alternative form | minow |
| alternative form | menow |
| alternative form | menoe |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | minnows |
| present participle | minnowing |
| past participle | minnowed |
| past | minnowed |
Origin of minnow
The noun is derived from Late Middle English menew, menowe (“small fish; (specifically) common minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus); or stickleback (possibly the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus)”), from Old English *mynwe, an oblique form of *mynu, a variant of myne (“minnow; small fish”), from Proto-West Germanic *muniwu (“minnow; small fish”), from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“small”). Possibly influenced by Anglo-Norman menu (“small”) and Old French menu (“small”), and English minim (“anything very minute; applied to animalcula and the like”). The adjective and verb are derived from the noun. Cognates * Middle Low German mone, möne (Dutch meun, West Frisian meun) * Old High German muniwa, munuwa, munewa (modern German Münne (“minnow”)) * Latin mēna (“small sea-fish”)
Words formed from minnow
Phrases with minnow
Words that rhyme with minnow
Questions about minnow
- What does minnow mean?
- Minnow means any of certain small fish.
- What is minnow in Tamil?
- Minnow in Tamil is நமது பூமியில் காணப்படும், மீன் இனங்களில் ஒன்றாகும். See Minnow meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use minnow in a sentence?
- Most minnows are small fish with cycloid scales, soft rays supporting their fins, and toothless jaws.
- What part of speech is minnow?
- Minnow can be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce minnow?
- Minnow is pronounced /ˈmɪnəʊ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of minnow?
- The plural of minnow is minnows.
Words near minnow in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: minnow (page history and authors); minnow (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “minnow.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/minnow. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.