Word.ws English Dictionary

shark

UK/ʃɑːk//ʃɑɹk/

shark noun: any predatory fish of the superorder Selachimorpha, with a cartilaginous skeleton and 5 to 7 gill slits on each side of its head.

shark: any predatory fish of the superorder Selachimorpha, with a cartilaginous skeleton and 5 to 7 gill...
Image: Hermanus Backpackers, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

shark (countable and uncountable, plural sharks)

  1. (countable) Any predatory fish of the superorder Selachimorpha, with a cartilaginous skeleton and 5 to 7 gill slits on each side of its head.
    • The straunge fishe is in length xvij. foote and iij. foote broad, and in compas about the bodie vj. foote; and is round snowted, short headdid, hauing iij. rankes of teeth on either iawe, …. Also it hath v. gills of eache side of the head, shoing white. Ther is no proper name for it that I know...1569, The true discripcion of this marueilous straunge Fishe, whiche was taken on Thursday was sennight, the xvi. day of June, this present month, in the yeare of our Lord God, M.D.lxix., a broadside...
    • He said he had spoken to a woman who was kayaking off Catalina Island, California, in 2008 when a shark slammed her kayak from underneath and sent her flying into the air. She then landed on the back of the shark, Collier said. "At that point the shark started to swim out to sea, so she jumped off...2011 October 13, AP, “Man 'surfs' great white shark”, in The Guardian
  2. (uncountable) Meat of this animal, consumed as food.
    • Shark has traditionally, although in some secrecy, been a staple food in European, American and Australian food.1987, John D.Stevens, editor, Sharks, New York, NY: Facts on File, →ISBN, page 195
    • In the past, people did not like to eat shark because they thought sharks ate the bodies of dead sailors.1992, Miranda MacQuitty, Shark, First American edition, New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, page 61
  3. (broadly) Any fish of the class Chondrichthyes, especially an extinct shark-like holocephalian.
    • Cladoselache, a well-preserved Devonian shark fossil from Ohio. Here the cartilages and some muscle tissues are preserved intact2024, John Long, The Secret History of Sharks: The Rise of the Ocean's Most Fearsome Predators, New York: Ballantine Books, page 17
  4. Any fish in the genus Epalzeorhynchos.
  5. Any fish in the genus Balantiocheilos.
  6. An iridescent shark (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus).
  7. A roseline shark (Dawkinsia denisonii).
  8. A paroon shark (Pangasius sanitwongsei).
  9. (countable) A noctuid moth of species Cucullia umbratica.
  10. (UK, countable, university slang) A university student who is not a fresher that has engaged in sexual activity with a fresher; usually habitually and with multiple people.

Verb (1)

shark (third-person singular simple present sharks, present participle sharking, simple past and past participle sharked)

  1. (intransitive, rare) To fish for sharks.
  2. (UK, derogatory, mildly, transitive, university slang) To engage in sexual activity with a fresher.
  3. (UK, derogatory, intransitive, mildly, university slang) To cruise for casual sex with a fresher at a bar or club.

Noun (2)

shark (plural sharks)

  1. Someone who exploits others, for example by trickery, lies, usury, extortion.
    • “[…] Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing. Oh, dear, there's so much to tell you, so many warnings to give you, but all that must be postponed for the moment.”1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 85
    • “Look after her, Mr. Hastings. My poor Emily. They’re a lot of sharks—all of them. Oh, I know what I’m talking about. There isn’t one of them that’s not hard up and trying to get money out of her. I’ve protected her as much as I could. Now I’m out of the way, they’ll impose upon her.”1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 15
  2. (derogatory, informal) A sleazy and amoral lawyer.
  3. (derogatory, informal) An ambulance chaser.
  4. (informal) A relentless and resolute person or group, especially in business.
    • To the extent that shares of this company are traded in the stock exchange, and share prices are based on fundamentals and not on the speculative whims and fancies of irrational money sharks, its value on the stock market should equal V(0) in real terms, of P(0)V(0) in nominal terms.2017, Ben J. Heijdra, Foundations of Modern Macroeconomics, 3rd edition, →ISBN, page 110
    • In the event they lacked a proper midfield bolt, with Toni Kroos and Sami Khedira huffing around in pursuit of the whizzing green machine. The centre-backs looked flustered, left to deal with three on two as Mexico broke. Löw’s 4-2-3-1 seemed antiquated and creaky, with the old World Cup shark...2018 June 17, Barney Ronay, “Mexico’s Hirving Lozano stuns world champions Germany for brilliant win”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived...
  5. A person that excels in a particular field.
    1. (informal, proscribed) A very good poker or pool player. Compare fish (a bad poker player).
  6. A person who feigns ineptitude to win money from others.
    Synonyms:
    hustler

Verb (2)

shark (third-person singular simple present sharks, present participle sharking, simple past and past participle sharked)

  1. (obsolete) To steal or obtain through fraud.
    • Shakespeare and others, Sir Thomas More (c. 1593) act 2, sc. 4: "Other ruffians...Would shark on you."
  2. (intransitive, obsolete) To play the petty thief; to practice fraud or trickery; to swindle.
    • Neither sharks for a cup or a reckoning.1628, John Earle, Microcosmography
  3. (intransitive, obsolete) To live by shifts and stratagems.
    • Ah Captaine, lay not all the fault upon Officers you know you can ſhark though you be out of action, witneſſe Montague.1612–1613, Nathan Field, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, “The Honest Mans Fortune”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647...
    • But a good man ſhall be ſatisfied from himſelf] For he hath a ſpring vvithin his ovvn breaſt, he needs not ſharke abroad: he hath an autarkie, a ſelf-ſufficiency, 1 Tim[othy] 6.6.1650, John Trapp, “A Commentary or Exposition upon the Proverbs of Solomon. [Chapter XIV.]”, in Solomonis Πανάρετος: Or, A Commentarie upon the Books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs....

Verb (3)

shark (third-person singular simple present sharks, present participle sharking, simple past and past participle sharked)

  1. (obsolete) To pick or gather indiscriminately or covertly.
    • Fortenbraſſe […] Hath […] Sharkt vp a ſight of lawleſſe Reſolutes […]c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shake-speare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and Iohn Trundell...

shark meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

shark in Hindi

fish
हाँगर hāṅgar, शार्क śārk

shark in Tamil

fish
சுறா cuṟā

shark in Marathi

fish
मोरी morī

shark in Urdu

fish
شارک مچھلی śārk maclī, شارک śārk
More languagesFewer languages
shark in Bengali
হাঙ্গর haṅgor, হাঙর haṅor
shark in Telugu
సొర చేప sora cēpa
shark in Malayalam
സ്രാവ് srāvŭ
shark in Kannada
ಷಾರ್ಕ್ ಮೀನು ṣārk mīnu, ಚೊರ cora
shark in Punjabi
ਸ਼ਾਰਕ
shark in Gujarati
શાર્ક śārk
shark in Odia
ଶାର୍କ
shark in Sinhala
මෝරා mōrā
shark in Assamese
হাঙৰ haṅor, হাংগৰ haṅgor
shark in Nepali
शार्क
shark in Pashto
منو manó
shark in Tagalog
pating
shark in Arabic
لُخْم luḵm, قِرْش qirš, سَمَكَةُ الْقِرْش samakatu l-qirš, ركان rekān
shark in Malay
ikan yu, jerung, yu
shark in Indonesian
hiu
shark in Persian
کوسه kuse
shark in Thai
ฉลาม chà-lǎam, ปลาฉลาม bplaa chà-lǎam
shark in Vietnamese
cá mập, cá nhám
shark in Myanmar
ငါးမန်း nga:man:
Sindhi
مَنگَرُ mãgaru
Dhivehi
މިޔަރު miyaru

Examples of shark in a sentence

  • Ther is no proper name for it that I know, but that sertayne men of Captayne Haukinses doth call it a sharke.1569, The true discripcion of this marueilous straunge Fishe, whiche was taken on Thursday was sennight, the xvi. day of June, this present...
  • He said he had spoken to a woman who was kayaking off Catalina Island, California, in 2008 when a shark slammed her kayak from underneath and sent her flying into the air.2011 October 13, AP, “Man 'surfs' great white shark”, in The Guardian:
  • Do not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish due to their high levels of mercury.2013, Jill J. Grover, Ecological Food for Thought on Seafood, West Conshohocken, PA: Infinity Publishing, →ISBN, page 26:
  • Löw’s 4-2-3-1 seemed antiquated and creaky, with the old World Cup shark Thomas Müller flat-footed in a wide position.2018 June 17, Barney Ronay, “Mexico’s Hirving Lozano stuns world champions Germany for brilliant win”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The...

All 40 example sentences with shark

Synonyms of shark

Forms of shark

Noun
pluralsharks
alternative form (obsolete)sharke
Verb
third-person singular presentsharks
present participlesharking
past participlesharked
pastsharked

Plural of shark: sharks

Origin of shark

From Middle English shark (used by Thomas Beckington in 1442 to refer to a kind of fish), of uncertain origin. Most likely from a semantic extension of the German-derived shark (“scoundrel”), see below. The fish was originally called a dogfish or haye in English and Middle English. Its name in Old English is unknown, although some uses of the word hranfisċ that do not appear to carry the sense of "whale" may have been referencing it. alternative theories Some older dictionaries derived the word from Latin c(h)archarias, c(h)acharus (from Ancient Greek), but admit that "the requisite [Old French] forms intermediate between E. shark and L. carcharus are not found, and it is not certain that the name [shark] was orig. applied to the fish; it may have been first used of a greedy man". Other older authorities speculated that the word might derive from Yucatec Maya xok (“fish”) (/ʃok/), as John Hawkins brought a specimen from the area where Mayan was spoken to England in the 1560s. However, the 1442 use rules out a New World origin for the word.

From German Schurke (“scoundrel”); compare Dutch schurk.

Probably from the "steal" senses above, but perhaps related to shear. Compare shirk.

Words formed from shark

Phrases with shark

116 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with shark

28 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about shark

What does shark mean?
Shark means any predatory fish of the superorder Selachimorpha, with a cartilaginous skeleton and 5 to 7 gill slits on each side of its head.
What is shark in Hindi?
Shark in Hindi is हाँगर (hāṅgar), शार्क (śārk). See Shark meaning in Hindi.
How do you use shark in a sentence?
Ther is no proper name for it that I know, but that sertayne men of Captayne Haukinses doth call it a sharke.
What part of speech is shark?
Shark can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce shark?
Shark is pronounced /ʃɑːk/ (UK).
What is the plural of shark?
The plural of shark is sharks.

Words near shark in the dictionary

  1. sharity
  2. Shariy
  3. Shariyah
  4. Sharja
  5. Sharjah
  6. shark
  7. shark attack
  8. shark attacks
  9. shark bait
  10. shark baiter
  11. shark baiters

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shark (page history and authors); shark (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); shark (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); shark (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-shark.ogg.

Cite this entry: “shark.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/shark. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.