flying fish

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Any of various marine fishes of the family Exocoetidae, having enlarged, winglike pectoral fins capable of sustaining them in brief, gliding flight over the water.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Any fish which can sustain itself or make a flight through the air by means of enlarged and wing-like pectoral fins. Specifically— A synentognathous fish of the family Exocætidæ and subfamily Exocætinæ, especially of the genus Exocætus. (See these words.) Nine species of this genus, and of the related genera Halocypselus and Parexocætus, have been taken off the Atlantic coast of North America. There is also a large Californian species, E. californiensis, some 16 or 17 inches long, which has been observed to take very long flights. See the extract.
2. n. A small constellation of the southern hemisphere, Piscis Volans. Some-times simply Volans.

Wiktionary

1. n. A tropical marine fish of the family Exocoetidae, having enlarged winglike pectoral fins enabling it to escape predators by taking short gliding flights through the air.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. adj. (Zoöl.) See Flying fish, in the Vocabulary.
2. (Zoöl.) A fish which is able to leap from the water, and fly a considerable distance by means of its large and long pectoral fins. These fishes belong to several species of the genus Exocœtus, and are found in the warmer parts of all the oceans.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. tropical marine fishes having enlarged winglike fins used for brief gliding flight