Etymology 1

Noun

1. A cold-blooded vertebrate animal that lives in water, moving with the help of fins and breathing with gills.

   Salmon is a fish.

   God created all the fishes of the world.

2. We have many fish in our aquarium.

3. Any vertebrate that lives in water and cannot live outside it.
4. The flesh of the fish used as food.

   The seafood pasta had lots of fish but not enough pasta.

5. A period of time spent fishing.

   The fish at the lake didn't prove successful.

6. An instance of seeking something.

   Merely two fishes for information told the whole story.

7. A card game in which the object is to obtain pairs of cards.
8. Women.
9. An easy victim for swindling.
10. A makeshift overlapping longitudinal brace used to temporarily repair or extend a spar or mast of a ship.

Adjective

1. Of or relating to fishing.

   Put the worm on a fish hook.

Verb

1. To try to catch fish, whether successfully or not.

   She went to the river to fish for trout.

2. To attempt to find or get hold of an object by searching among other objects.

   Why are you fishing through in my things?

3. To attempt to obtain information by talking to people.

   The detective visited the local pubs fishing around for more information.

4. Of a batsman, to attempt to hit a ball outside off stump and miss it.
5. To attempt to get hold of (an object) that is among other objects.

   • He was fishing for the keys in his pocket.

6. To attempt to gain.

   The actors loitered at the door, fishing for compliments.

7. To repair a spar or mast using a brace often called a fish (see NOUN above).

   1970 Henderson, James, The Frigates, an account of the lesser warships of the wars from 1793 to 1815; Wordsworth edition of 1998, p143:

   • [...] the crew were set to replacing and splicing the rigging and fishing the spars.