minnows

Noun

minnow (plural minnows)

1. 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

   Synonyms:

   minim, pinkeen

   1. 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
   2. Chiefly with a qualifying word: That fish or any of a number of other (small) fish from the family Cyprinidae.
   3. (US) Any of those fish or other small (usually freshwater) fish from other families.
   4. (Australia, New Zealand) 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).
   5. (UK, regional) 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

See all 12 meanings of minnow