schnapper
(ˈsnæpə(r))
Formerly also snapper.
[An alteration, after the equivalent G. schnapper, of snapper (f. snap v. + -er1), a name which has been given independently in various parts of the world to many different fishes.]
a. A valuable sparoid food-fish (Chrysophrys guttulatus or C. auratus), abundant upon the coasts of South Australia and New Zealand.
| 1827 P. Cunningham N.S. Wales I. 68 Snappers, bream, flat-heads, and various other descriptions of fishes, are all too found plentifully about. 1850 Clutterbuck Port Phillip iii. 44 Besides the fish above numerated, are the Schnapper, black-fish and eel. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 171 The first fish, a twelve-pound schnapper. 1908 E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber ii. i. 243 When maybe they have caught schnapper..they drift among the turtle. 1917 Chambers's Jrnl. Apr. 237/2 The schnapper, a sea-bream, is a splendid fish. 1947 K. Tennant Lost Haven vi. 89 The deck was littered with the pink-bronze bodies of schnapper. 1971 Sunday Australian 8 Aug. 5/6 Sir Henry's best catch this time was a 10 lb schnapper. |
b. attrib. and Comb.
| 1859 All Year Round No. 4. 80 We had been accustomed to..fish..for Schnapper-fish weighing from seven to twenty-five pounds. 1883 E. P. Ramsay Food Fishes N.S. Wales 31 Schnapper-fishing. 1944 Living off Land vii. 133 Cotton schnapper line. 1947 K. Tennant Lost Haven i. 14 The schnapper boat moored beside..the grey skeleton of the half-built ship. |