ˈeel-pout
[OE. ǽle-puta, f. eel n. + pout.]
1. A marine fish of the family Zoarcidæ, esp. the viviparous blenny, Zoarces viviparus; also formerly applied to the burbot.
| c 1000 ælfric Colloq. in Wr.-Wülcker 94 Hwilce fixas ᵹefehst þu?..mynas and æleputan. 1598 Florio, Agufeo, an eelepout. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 246 A kind of Lamprels or Elepouts like to sea Lampreis. 1740 R. Brookes Art of Angling i. xli. 87 The Eel-Pout or Burbot..has a smooth, soft, slippery Body like an Eel. 1772 in P. L. Phillips Notes B. Romans (1924) 124 There are three species of Eel Ponts [sic], but these are in every Sea or River on the Earth besides. 1810 P. Neill Fishes in Forth 8 (Jam.) B. viviparus. Viviparous Blenny; Green bone. Here this species sometimes gets the name of Eelpout and Guffer. 1842 Nat. Hist. N.Y., Zoology iv. 155 The thick-lipped Eel-pout..is caught on the coast. 1863 Couch Brit. Fishes III. 93 The Burbolt is..distinguished by exhibiting some of the manners of the eel, by which it has obtained in some places the name of Eelpout. 1885 [see lamper-eel 2]. 1905 D. S. Jordan Guide to Study of Fishes II. xxix. 518 The Zoarcidæ, or eel-pouts, have the body elongate. 1969 A. Wheeler Fishes Brit. Isles & N.W. Europe 448 Eelpouts often lie under stones or buried in mud. |
† 2. A yellow flower. ? = eel-ware (see eel n. 6).
| 1736 Bailey Househ. Dict. 141 Butter..As for that which is tinged with eel pouts, it not only deceives the sight, but is very often disagreeable to the taste. |