menhaden

UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/mɛnˈheɪdən/US:USA pronunciation: respellingUSA pronunciation: respelling(men hād′n)

Inflections of 'menhaden' (n): npl: menhaden

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
men•ha•den  (men hād′n),USA pronunciation n., pl. -den. 
  1. Fishany marine clupeid fish of the genus Brevoortia, esp. B. tyrannus, resembling a shad but with a more compressed body, common along the eastern coast of the U.S., and used for making oil and fertilizer.
  • Narragansett (English spelling, spelled) munnawhatteaûg, influenced by English dialect, dialectal poghaden; compare pogy1
  • perh. 1635–45, American.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
menhaden /mɛnˈheɪdən/ n ( pl -den)
  1. a marine North American fish, Brevoortia tyrannus: source of fishmeal, fertilizer, and oil: family Clupeidae (herrings, etc)
Etymology: 18th Century: from Algonquian; probably related to Narragansett munnawhatteaúg fertilizer, menhaden
'menhaden' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
pogy - clupeid - fatback - mossbunker - oldwife - shiner

Forum discussions with the word(s) "menhaden" in the title:


Look up "menhaden" at Merriam-Webster
Look up "menhaden" at dictionary.com
  • Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks.

In other languages: Spanish | French | Italian | Portuguese | Romanian | German | Dutch | Swedish | Russian | Polish | Czech | Greek | Turkish | Chinese | Japanese | Korean | Arabic

Advertisements
Advertisements
Report an inappropriate ad.
WordReference.com
WORD OF THE DAY
GET THE DAILY EMAIL!

Become a WordReference Supporter to view the site ad-free.