herring

noun

her·​ring ˈher-iŋ 

ˈhe-riŋ

plural herring or herrings

1

: either of two food fishes (genus Clupea):

a

: one (C. harengus) that is abundant in the temperate and colder parts of the North Atlantic and that in the adult state is preserved by smoking or salting and in the young state is extensively canned and sold as sardines

b

: one (C. pallasi synonym C. h. pallasi) of the North Pacific harvested especially for its roe

2

: any of a large family (Clupeidae) of soft-finned bony fishes (such as the herrings, shads, sardines, and menhadens) that have a laterally compressed body and a forked tail and usually occur in schools

Examples of herring in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Pods of smallmouth will often linger just beneath these baitfish, waiting to rip through them like tuna feeding on herring. —Kubie Brown, Outdoor Life, 3 Oct. 2024

To write is to get yourself out of the way, as much as possible, in order to reveal Stevens’s thing itself: the moth, the herring, the peregrine, the rose garden, the godhead. —Simon Critchley, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024

Then, a group of whales all lunge upwards at the same time, scooping up the herring with gaping mouths. —Lauren Sommer, NPR, 6 Sep. 2024

In one remarkable instance, the construction of a dam trapped two herring species, alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (A. aestivalis), in the Kerr Reservoir on the border between North Carolina and Virginia. —Richard Pallardy, Ars Technica, 30 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English hering, from Old English hǣring; akin to Old High German hārinc herring

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing herring

• blueback herring
• herring gull
• lake herring
• red herring

Kids Definition

herring

noun

her·​ring ˈher-iŋ 

plural herring or herrings

: a valuable food fish that is very common in the north Atlantic Ocean

also : any of various fishes like this one or related to it