Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A croaking animal, especially a frog.
- n. A person who grumbles or habitually predicts evil.
- n. Any of various fishes, chiefly of the family Sciaenidae, that make croaking or grunting sounds.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A bird or other animal that croaks.
- n. One who croaks, murmurs, or grumbles; one who complains unreasonably; one who takes a desponding view of everything; an alarmist.
- n. A corpse.
- n. A name of various fishes. A fish of the genus Hæmulon. Also called
grunter . - n. The little roncador.
- n. Any fish of the sciænoid genus Micropogon, especially M. undulatus.
Wiktionary
- n. One who croaks
- n. A vocal pessimist, grumbler, doomsayer.
- n. A frog
- n. A fish in the family Sciaenidae, known for the throbbing sounds they make.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. One who croaks, murmurs, grumbles, or complains unreasonably; one who habitually forebodes evil.
- n. A small American fish (Micropogon undulatus), of the Atlantic coast.
- n. An American fresh-water fish (Aplodinotus grunniens); -- called also
drum . - n. The surf fish of California.
WordNet 3.0
- n. any of several fishes that make a croaking noise
- n. the lean flesh of a saltwater fish caught along Atlantic coast of southern U.S.
Examples
“I wash born here, an I wash raished here, and dad gum it, I am gonna die here, an no sidewindin bushwackin, hornswaglin, cracker croaker is gonna rouin me bishen cutter.”
“Gabby Johnson: I wash born here, an I wash raished here, and dad gum it, I am gonna die here, an no sidewindin’ bushwackin’, hornswagglin’ cracker croaker is gonna rouin me bishen cutter.”
“Cotton protested at this that he was a "croaker" after all - I soon discovered that the word was applied to everyone who ventured to criticise McNaghten or express doubts about the safety of the British force in Kabul.”
Flashman
“Oh, I know I'm a 'croaker', as McNaghten would say; he thinks we are as secure here as on Horse Guards.”
Flashman
“Pan fish, such as croaker, gafftop, drum, whiting, sand trout, along with an occasional flounder or red fish, will take the bait.”
“DMR's sampling included fin fish, such as croaker, white trout and ground mullet, along with blue crabs, shrimp and oysters that will be examined by the NOAA office in Pascagoula as early as today.”
“Fish that prefer warmer waters -- such as croaker in the Mid-Atlantic -- are increasing in abundance in the region, Fogarty said.”
“My Dad was a Southerner so his favorite Sunday breakfast always included some fried fish (whiting, porgy, Virginia spot or croaker), with grits, scrambled eggs and cheese and corn bread.”
“I've caught some big croaker in it, but no blues that big.”
“I need tips for surf fishing the eastern shore for good croaker or bluefish.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘croaker’.
vanishedone According to Wikipedia, 'some analysts distinguish among sub-types of Tom Swifties. Some call those in which the pun is carried by the verb "Croakers" (after the above listed example in which "Tom croaked"), or insist that only those examples in which the pun is carried by an adverb ending in -ly are "true" Tom Swifties (or Swiftlies), or make other distinctions.'
Where does one apply to become a Tom Swiftie analyst? Apr 5, 2009