silverfish

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Any of various fishes having silvery scales, such as a tarpon or silverside.
2. n. A small silvery or gray bristletail (Lepisma saccharina) that feeds on the starchy material in bookbindings, wallpaper, clothing, and food, often causing extensive damage.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. An artificial variety of the goldfish, Carassius auratas, more or less nearly colorless, or with silvery-white instead of red scales on much or all of the body.
2. n. A sand-smelt or atherine; any fish of the family Atherinidæ: same as silversides.
3. n. The bream Notemigonus chrysoleucus. See cut under shiner.
4. n. The tarpon (or tarpum) or jewfish, Megalops atlanticus or M. thrissoides. Also sabalo, savanilla. See cut under tarpon.
5. n. The characinoid Curimatus argenteus, inhabiting the fresh waters of Trinidad.
6. n. Any species of Lepisma, as L. saccharina or L. domestica, a thysanurous insect occurring in houses and damaging books, wall-paper, etc. See Lepisma. Also called walking-fish, bristletail, fishtail, furniture-bug, silver-moth, silver-witch, shiner, and silvertail.
7. n. A Tasmanian name for Carangus georgianus, of the family Carangidæ, the white or silver trevally. E. E. Morris, Austral English.

Wiktionary

1. n. A small wingless insect with silvery scales, a type of bristletail.
2. n. The tarpum.
3. n. A white variety of the goldfish.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The tarpum.
2. n. A white variety of the goldfish.
3. n. one of a variety of insects of the order Thysanura, especially Lepisma saccharina, which may infest houses, and eats starched clothing and sized papers. See Lepisma.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a silvery variety of Carassius auratus
2. n. silver-grey wingless insect found in houses feeding on book bindings and starched clothing