shark
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ʃɑːk/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ʃɑɹk/
Audio (US): (file) - Homophone: shock (non-rhotic, father-bother merger)
- Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)k
Etymology 1
From Middle English shark (used by Thomas Beckington in 1442 to refer to a kind of fish),[1] of uncertain origin. Most likely from a semantic extension of the German-derived shark (“scoundrel”), see below. The fish was originally called a dogfish or haye in English and Middle English.
alternative theories
Some older dictionaries derived the word from Latin c(h)archarias, c(h)acharus (from Ancient Greek), but admit that "the requisite [Old French] forms intermediate between E. shark and L. carcharus are not found, and it is not certain that the name [shark] was orig. applied to the fish; it may have been first used of a greedy man".[2]
Other older authorities speculated that the word might derive from Yucatec Maya xok (“fish”) (/ʃok/), as John Hawkins brought a specimen from the area where Mayan was spoken to England in the 1560s. However, the 1442 use rules out a New World origin for the word.
Noun
shark (plural sharks)
- (ichthyology) A scaleless, predatory fish of the superorder Selachimorpha, with a cartilaginous skeleton and 5 to 7 gill slits on each side of its head.
- 1569, The true discripcion of this marueilous straunge Fishe, whiche was taken on Thursday was sennight, the xvi. day of June, this present month, in the yeare of our Lord God, M.D.lxix., a broadside printed in London, the second earliest known use of the term; reprinted in A Collection of Seventy-Nine Black-Letter Ballads and Broadsides: printed in the reigh of Queen Elizabeth, between the years 1559 and 1597 in 1867:
- The straunge fishe is in length xvij. foote and iij. foote broad, and in compas about the bodie vj. foote; and is round snowted, short headdid, hauing iij. rankes of teeth on either iawe, [...]. Also it hath v. gills of eache side of the head, shoing white. Ther is no proper name for it that I know, but that sertayne men of Captayne Haukinses doth call it a sharke.
- 2011 October 13, AP, “Man 'surfs' great white shark”, in The Guardian:
- He said he had spoken to a woman who was kayaking off Catalina Island, California, in 2008 when a shark slammed her kayak from underneath and sent her flying into the air. She then landed on the back of the shark, Collier said. "At that point the shark started to swim out to sea, so she jumped off its back," Collier said.
- 1569, The true discripcion of this marueilous straunge Fishe, whiche was taken on Thursday was sennight, the xvi. day of June, this present month, in the yeare of our Lord God, M.D.lxix., a broadside printed in London, the second earliest known use of the term; reprinted in A Collection of Seventy-Nine Black-Letter Ballads and Broadsides: printed in the reigh of Queen Elizabeth, between the years 1559 and 1597 in 1867:
- The noctuid moth Cucullia umbratica.
- (UK, university slang) A university student who is not a fresher that has engaged in sexual activity with a fresher; usually habitually and with multiple people.
Alternative forms
Synonyms
- (scaleless cartilaginous fish): haye (obsolete)
Derived terms
- angel shark, angelshark
- Atlantic sharpnose shark
- bamboo shark
- barbeled houndshark
- basking shark
- blacktip reef shark
- blind shark
- blue shark
- bonnethead shark
- bramble shark
- brown shark
- bullhead shark
- bull shark
- carpet shark, carpetshark
- catshark, cat shark
- collared carpet shark
- cookiecutter shark
- copper shark
- cow shark
- crocodile shark
- deepwater shark
- dogfish shark
- dusky shark
- false catshark
- finback catshark
- fox shark
- frilled shark, frill shark
- Ganges shark
- ghost shark
- goblin shark
- great mackerel shark
- great white shark
- Greenland shark
- grey nurse shark
- grey reef shark
- ground shark
- gulper shark
- gummyshark, gummy shark
- hammerhead shark
- horn shark
- hound shark, houndshark
- iridescent shark
- jump the shark
- kitefin shark
- land shark
- lantern shark, lanternshark
- lemon shark
- leopard shark
- loan shark
- mackerel shark
- mako shark
- megamouth shark
- megatooth shark
- mud shark
- narrowtooth shark
- nurse shark
- oceanic whitetip shark
- prickly shark
- reef shark
- requiem shark
- river shark
- rough shark
- salmon shark
- sandbar shark
- sand shark
- sand tiger shark
- saw shark, sawshark
- school shark
- shark attack
- shark-bait
- shark bait, shark baiter
- Shark Bay
- shark bite
- shark-bite
- shark catfish
- sharkdom
- sharked
- shark-fin
- shark-finned
- shark fin, shark fin soup
- shark-gull
- shark-infested
- sharking
- sharkish, sharkishly
- shark-jumping
- sharkless
- sharklet
- sharklike
- sharkling
- sharkmeat
- shark net
- shark ray
- sharks and minnows
- sharkskin, sharkskinned
- sharksploitation
- sharksucker
- shark up
- sharkwatching
- shark week
- sharky
- sleepershark
- sleeper shark
- slough shark
- swellshark
- thickskin shark
- thresher shark
- tiger shark
- walking shark
- weasel shark
- whaler shark
- whale shark
- white shark
- whitetip reef shark
- winghead shark
- wouldn't shout if a shark bit him
- zebra shark
Translations
fish
|
Verb
shark (third-person singular simple present sharks, present participle sharking, simple past and past participle sharked)
- (rare) To fish for sharks.
- (UK, university slang) Of a university student who is not a fresher, to engage in sexual activity with a fresher, or to be at a bar or club with the general intention of engaging in such activity.
See also
Etymology 2
From German Schurke (“scoundrel”); compare Dutch schurk.
Noun
shark (plural sharks)
- Someone who exploits others, for example by trickery, lies, usury, extortion.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 85:
- “[…] Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing. Oh, dear, there's so much to tell you, so many warnings to give you, but all that must be postponed for the moment.”
- (informal, derogatory) A sleazy and amoral lawyer.
- (informal, derogatory) An ambulance chaser.
- (informal) A relentless and resolute person or group, especially in business.
- 2018 June 17, Barney Ronay, “Mexico’s Hirving Lozano stuns world champions Germany for brilliant win”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 5 August 2019:
- In the event they lacked a proper midfield bolt, with Toni Kroos and Sami Khedira huffing around in pursuit of the whizzing green machine. The centre-backs looked flustered, left to deal with three on two as Mexico broke. Löw’s 4-2-3-1 seemed antiquated and creaky, with the old World Cup shark Thomas Müller flat-footed in a wide position.
- (informal) A very good poker or pool player. Compare fish (a bad poker player).
- (sports and games) A person who feigns ineptitude to win money from others.
Usage notes
- The use of the term by people unfamiliar with pool is rarely well perceived by experienced players.
Synonyms
- (player who feigns ineptitude to win money): hustler
Derived terms
- cardshark
- card shark
- loan shark
- pool shark
- shark bait
- sharkette
Translations
one who exploits others
good poker or pool player
Verb
shark (third-person singular simple present sharks, present participle sharking, simple past and past participle sharked)
- (obsolete) To steal or obtain through fraud.
- (obsolete, intransitive) To play the petty thief; to practice fraud or trickery; to swindle.
- 1628, John Earle, Microcosmography:
- Neither sharks for a cup or a reckoning.
- (obsolete, intransitive) To live by shifts and stratagems.
- 1612–1613, Nathan Field, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, “The Honest Mans Fortune”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act III, scene i, pages 161–162:
- Ah Captaine, lay not all the fault upon Officers you know you can ſhark though you be out of action, witneſſe Montague.
- 1650, John Trapp, “A Commentary or Exposition upon the Proverbs of Solomon. [Chapter XIV.]”, in Solomonis Πανάρετος: Or, A Commentarie upon the Books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. […], London: […] T[homas] R[atcliffe] and E[dward] M[ottershead] for John Bellamie, […], →OCLC, page 147:
- But a good man ſhall be ſatisfied from himſelf] For he hath a ſpring vvithin his ovvn breaſt, he needs not ſharke abroad: he hath an autarkie, a ſelf-ſufficiency, 1 Tim[othy] 6.6.
Derived terms
Etymology 3
Probably from the "steal" senses above, but perhaps related to shear. Compare shirk.
Verb
shark (third-person singular simple present sharks, present participle sharking, simple past and past participle sharked)
- (obsolete) To pick or gather indiscriminately or covertly.
- c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shake-speare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and Iohn Trundell, published 1603, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
- Fortenbraſſe […] Hath […] Sharkt vp a ſight of lawleſſe Reſolutes […]
References
- “shark, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- “shark”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Further reading
- “shark”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- “shark”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
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