ˈflying ˈfish
[f. flying ppl. a. + fish.]
A name given to two kinds of fish (Dactylopterus and Exocœtus), which are able to rise into the air by means of enlarged wing-like pectoral fins.
| c 1511 1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 28/1 There by be many w[h]alefysshes and flyinge fysshes. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia v. 182 On the eleuenth day..two flying fishes fals in his boat. 1821 Shelley Prometh. Unb. iv. i. 86 As the flying fish leap From the Indian deep. |
b. A constellation of the Southern Hemisphere.
| 1868 Lockyer Guillemin's Heavens (ed. 3) 335. |