numb-fish
[f. numb a.]
The Electric Ray or Torpedo, so called from the effect of the electric shocks emitted by it.
| 1711 Brit. Apollo No. 123. 1/2 A Fish called by Name a Nummfish. 1738 F. Moore Trav. Africa 176 By this time I understood it was a Torpedo or Numbfish. 1774 Phil. Trans. LXIV. 467 The Torpedo, or Numb-fish, is by no means plenty in these parts. 1854 Badham Halieut. 78 The numb-fish (narke) applied alive over the temples in head⁓ache is mentioned by Galen as a specific for that complaint. 1867 Chambers's Encycl. IX. 488/2 The popular names Numb-fish, Cramp-fish, and Cramp Ray are given to torpedos by English fishermen. |