Sailfish

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sailfish \Sail"fish\, n. (Zool.)
        (a) The banner fish, or spikefish ({Histiophorus}.)
        (b) The basking, or liver, shark.
        (c) The quillback.
            [1913 Webster]



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Liver \Liv"er\, n. [AS. lifer; akin to D. liver, G. leber, OHG.
     lebara, Icel. lifr, Sw. lefver, and perh. to Gr. ? fat, E.
     live, v.] (Anat.)
     A very large glandular and vascular organ in the visceral
     cavity of all vertebrates.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Most of the venous blood from the alimentary canal
           passes through it on its way back to the heart; and it
           secretes the bile, produces glycogen, and in other ways
           changes the blood which passes through it. In man it is
           situated immediately beneath the diaphragm and mainly
           on the right side. See {Bile}, {Digestive}, and
           {Glycogen}. The liver of invertebrate animals is
           usually made up of c[ae]cal tubes, and differs
           materially, in form and function, from that of
           vertebrates.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {Floating liver}. See {Wandering liver}, under {Wandering}.
        
  
     {Liver of antimony}, {Liver of sulphur}. (Old Chem.) See
        {Hepar}.
  
     {Liver brown}, {Liver color}, the color of liver, a dark,
        reddish brown.
  
     {Liver shark} (Zool.), a very large shark ({Cetorhinus
        maximus}), inhabiting the northern coasts both of Europe
        and North America. It sometimes becomes forty feet in
        length, being one of the largest sharks known; but it has
        small simple teeth, and is not dangerous. It is captured
        for the sake of its liver, which often yields several
        barrels of oil. It has gill rakers, resembling whalebone,
        by means of which it separates small animals from the sea
        water. Called also {basking shark}, {bone shark},
        {hoemother}, {homer}, and {sailfish}; it is sometimes
        referred to as {whale shark}, but that name is more
        commonly used for the {Rhincodon typus}, which grows even
        larger.
  
     {Liver spots}, yellowish brown patches on the skin, or spots
        of chloasma.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Quillback \Quill"back`\, n. (Zool.)
     An American fresh-water fish ({Ictiobus cyprinus} syn.
     {Carpiodes cyprinus}); -- called also {carp sucker},
     {sailfish}, {spearfish}, and {skimback}.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  sailfish
       n 1: a saltwater fish with lean flesh
       2: large pelagic game fish having an elongated upper jaw and
          long sail-like dorsal fin
       [also: {sailfishes} (pl)]