Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of numerous scaleless, chiefly freshwater fishes of the order Siluriformes, characteristically having whiskerlike barbels extending from the upper jaw.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A name of the wolf-fish, Anarrhichas lupus, from its dentition and its ferocity when caught. See wolf-fish.
  • noun A name generally given in the United States to species of the family Siluridæ, which when taken out of the water emit a sound like the purring of a cat.
  • noun A name given in some parts of England to the weever, Trachinus draco.
  • noun A local English name of the scyllioid shark, Scyllium catulus.
  • noun A local English name of the torsk, Brosmius brosme.
  • noun A name in New Zealand for fishes of the family Uranoscopidæ, especially the Ichthyscopus monopterygius.
  • noun In Victoria and New South Wales, a fresh-water fish, Copidoglanis tandanus.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) A name given in the United States to various species of siluroid fishes; This name is also sometimes applied to the wolf fish. See bullhrad.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any fish of the order Siluriformes, that are mainly found in freshwater, are without scales, and have barbels like whiskers around the mouth.
  • noun Internet, psychology, slang a person who sets up or runs a false puppet social networking identity profile for fraudulent or deceptive purposes

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun large ferocious northern deep-sea food fishes with strong teeth and no pelvic fins
  • noun any of numerous mostly freshwater bottom-living fishes of Eurasia and North America with barbels like whiskers around the mouth
  • noun flesh of scaleless food fish of the southern United States; often farmed

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From cat +‎ fish. Likely so named for its prominent barbels like the cat's whiskers.

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Examples

  • Much of that 'catfish' in Mississippi is secretly Basa fish from China these days, especially on the buffets at the casinos along the Gulf Coast, were they don't have to call it catfish (which they aren't supposed to do) but just let people assume it is.

    Caracol - Did I just eat snails? 2005

  • Also, I know you disdain catfish, but there's certainly a subset of guys who are hard-core and pretty cultish about catching monster blues and flatheads.

    Which Fishing Cult is the Most Insane? 2009

  • I've never had walleye, so I am not qualified to say that catfish is absolutely the best of any fried fish.

    The Fried Fish Debate 2009

  • I've never had walleye, so I am not qualified to say that catfish is absolutely the best of any fried fish.

    The Fried Fish Debate 2009

  • Catching the daddy catfish is fun, but we have a couple baby catfish that we want to raise, and one is to small to eat the minnows we put in there.

    What is a baby channel cats favorite food? 2009

  • Shouldering that catfish is almost more impressive than catching it in the first place.

    The Best Reader Photos of July 2009 2009

  • In the episode, law-enforcement officers use a gadget they called a "catfish" to track cellphones without a court order.

    'Stingray' Phone Tracker Fuels Constitutional Clash Jennifer Valentino-DeVries 2011

  • Also, I know you disdain catfish, but there's certainly a subset of guys who are hard-core and pretty cultish about catching monster blues and flatheads.

    Which Fishing Cult is the Most Insane? 2009

  • Shouldering that catfish is almost more impressive than catching it in the first place.

    The Best Reader Photos of July 2009 2009

  • Catching the daddy catfish is fun, but we have a couple baby catfish that we want to raise, and one is to small to eat the minnows we put in there.

    What is a baby channel cats favorite food? 2009

  • One recent success, if you can call it that: a woman posted on behalf of her mum, concerned that the man she had been talking to was a catfish (a catfish is someone who uses other people’s pictures to create a fake identity).

    Inside the secret network of women naming and shaming their bad exes Kate Solomon 2023

  • Shakespeare, for instance, coined an arguable 1,700 terms, while “gaslight,” “friendzone,” and “catfish” all stem from professional screenwriters.

    TikTok is full of tryhard slang Rebecca Jennings 2024

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