whitebait

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The young of various fishes, especially the herring, considered a delicacy when fried.
2. n. Any of various similar or related small edible fishes.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A name used in New Zealand for the young fry of Galaxias attenuatus, a fish of the family Galaxidæ; also the young of the New Zealand smelt, Retropinna Richardsonii.
2. n. A small clupeoid fish, prized as a delicacy in England. Whitebait are best when from 2 or 3 inches long, but retain the name up to a size of 4 or 5 inches. They abound in the estuary of the Thames and in other similar British localities at certain seasons. The fishing begins in April, and lasts through the summer; the fishes are taken in bag-nets. They are chiefly of a silvery-white color inclining to a pale-greenish on the back. Some places in England, as especially Greenwich, are famous for their whitebait dinners. The fish are usually fried till they are crisp. The identity of whitebait has been much discussed and disputed. They have been supposed to be a distinct species, named Clupea alba, and even placed in a genus framed for their reception as Rogenia alba. They have been more generally recognized as the fry of certain clupeoids, as the sprat (Clupea sprattus), the herring (C. harengus), and the shad (of one or another of the British species). But careful examinations of great quantities of whitebait, made in different localities at different times, have shown these opinions to be more or less erroneous. Whitebait consists in fact of the fry of several different clupeoid fishes, mainly the sprat and the herring, with occasionally a small percentage of yet other fishes; and the relative quantity of the different species represented varies, moreover, according to season and locality.
3. n. A Chinese salmonoid fish, Salanx sinensis. See Salanx.

Wiktionary

1. n. The young of various species of fish, especially herrings, sprats or smelts, served deep fried as a starter or snack

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The young of several species of herrings, especially of the common herring, esteemed a great delicacy by epicures in England.
2. n. A small translucent fish (Salanx Chinensis) abundant at certain seasons on the coasts of China and Japan, and used in the same manner as the European whitebait.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. minnows or other small fresh- or saltwater fish (especially herring); usually cooked whole
2. n. the edible young of especially herrings and sprats and smelts