Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A large South American freshwater food fish (Arapaima gigas) that typically attains a length of 3 meters (10 feet). Also called pirarucu.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The name of the largest known fresh-water fish, Arapaima gigas, an inhabitant of Brazil and Guiana, said to attain a length of 15 feet and a weight of 400 pounds. It is of economical importance as a food-fish.
- n. [capitalized] [NL.] A genus of malacopterygian abdominal fishes, of the family Osteoglossidœ, remarkable for their size and the mosaic work of their hard bony compound scales. A. gigas is an example.
Wiktionary
- n. A large carnivorous predatory South American tropical freshwater fish, Arapaima gigas. It is the largest scaled freshwater fish in the world. It is a primitive fish.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Zoöl.) A large fresh-water food fish of South America.
Etymologies
- American Spanish or Portuguese, both probably of Tupian origin . (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Apparently at 15 feet in length, the arapaima is the largest fish in the Amazon.”
“The arapaima is the largest freshwater fish with scales in the world.”
“The site protects the largest array of electric fish in the world and key threatened species such as the giant arapaima fish, Amazonian manatee, black caiman and two species of river dolphin.”
“Visitors walk through a series of geographical-themed displays that cover a range of aquatic species, from frogs in the "Highlands" display to the "Amazon Flooded Forest" section where there's a rare South American freshwater fish, a three-meter-long arapaima.”
“Equally daunting is the prospect of moving a six-foot-long arapaima, a fish able to leap as high as three feet out of water.”
The Wall Street Journal: Moving 38,000 Living Specimens Creates
“Some very huge arapaima also, which are air breathing fish that grow up to fourteen feet.”
Cool things at the Dallas World Aquarium | Letter Never Sent
“When we walked into the Amazon Gallery, the arapaima stopped me dead in my tracks.”
“Presently, one kilogram of arapaima fish sells for 30 Brazilian reais (US$ 17) at the market, and up to 50 reais (US$ 28.5) in supermarkets," she says.”
“According to Keyla, demand for the arapaima (Arapaima gigas), which is also known as pirarucu, or paiche has increased even further after it was in danger of extinction, leading to the establishment, by the Brazilian Environment and Renewable Natural Resource Institute”
“The proposal is to strengthen arapaima fishing in the region, as it was mostly made for local consumption thus far," explains the project manager of the Sebrae Pará, Keyla Reis de Oliveira.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘arapaima’.
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Additional 250 Spelling Words
Words for the diehard intermediate and advanced spellers
facetiae, sagittary, anthophilous, hydromancy, pandect, carillonneur, tabbouleh, litterateur, windgall, pinguid, tressure, moderne and 238 more...
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fish list
lots and lots of fish, a piscatorial
wetdreamablet, agnathan, ahi, ahuru, ahuruhuru, albacore, albicore, alec, alewife, allice, allis, amberjack and 840 more...
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Random
These are just some random words that I might find a list for someday.
troglodytism, chinkle, vasculum, sabz, cucullus, tricornigerous, cuboctahedron, eruca, gamp, pilum, taha, angelhood and 244 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for arapaima.
Wordplayer It's the largest freshwater fish in the world, but somehow it is unlisted! Apr 14, 2012