shark

Less common meanings

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A person who feigns ineptitude in a game to win money from unsuspecting opponents.

   The pool hall regular was a shark who let beginners win the first round.

   Only after dropping a few cheap games on purpose did the shark suggest they play for real money.

   UsageHustler is a near synonym. At a pool table, shark can mean skill or a con.

   Similarhustler

   Note

   In games and gambling this shark relies on deception rather than skill alone. The expert player simply plays well; this one hides it, losing early or playing clumsily to draw larger bets before cashing in. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Hustlers may conceal their skill and deliberately lose before raising the stakes and winning. en.wikipedia.org
7. 7
   river fishnouncountable

   Any of several freshwater fish that look or move like a true shark without being one, including the iridescent shark and the roseline shark.

   Darting along the riverbed, the shark had the pointed fin and restless glide of its ocean namesake.

   Before you buy a shark for a home aquarium, find out how large it grows, because some freshwater species quickly outgrow small tanks.

   Note

   The name records a likeness, not a lineage: none of the fish so named belongs to Selachimorpha, the group of true sharks. The label spans whole genera, among them Epalzeorhynchos and Balantiocheilos, and single species, including the paroon shark. When the distinction matters, freshwater shark is the fuller name for the lookalike. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • The lookalikes' name refers to their resemblance to sharks. en.wikipedia.org
   • These freshwater lookalikes are bony fish, not true sharks. en.wikipedia.org
   • Selachimorpha names the true-shark group. en.wikipedia.org
   • The label includes Epalzeorhynchos and both species of Balantiocheilos. en.wikipedia.org
   • The paroon shark is an individual freshwater catfish species. en.wikipedia.org
8. 8
   go fishingverbrareintransitive

   To fish for sharks as the intended catch.

   In August the charter boats go sharking well offshore, where the blue sharks follow the schools of bait fish.

   Serious sharking from the beach takes heavy tackle, plenty of bait, and a great deal of patience.

   Note

   A rare, literal verb made straight from the fish, and easily misread. Other verbs with the same spelling mean to swindle in older texts and to pursue freshers in British campus slang, so a bare "they sharked all summer" can mislead. When the fishing meaning is intended, "fish for sharks" or "go shark fishing" is the clearer choice and avoids the ambiguity entirely. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Shark has a rare literal verb sense meaning to fish for sharks. en.wiktionary.org
   • The fishing verb derives from the fish noun. mesoweb.com
   • An older verb shark means to obtain through fraud or swindle. en.wiktionary.org
   • British university slang uses shark for pursuing freshers sexually. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   verbobsoleteintransitive

   To commit small thefts or deceive others for gain, sometimes as a means of supporting oneself.

   Neither sharks for a cup or a reckoning.

   1628, John Earle, Microcosmography

   Note

   Petty trickery on an alehouse scale. John Earle's Microcosmography (1628) uses it with for, describing a man who "neither sharks for a cup or a reckoning". That is someone who never cheats his way to a drink or around a tavern bill. The verb is intransitive and obsolete, and it is far smaller in scale than the exploiter noun. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • John Earle wrote Microcosmography. gutenberg.org
   • Microcosmography was first published in 1628; the source reproduces its first-edition title page. gutenberg.org
   • The quoted wording occurs in Earle's description of an ordinary honest man and uses shark with for. gutenberg.org
   • The petty-trickery sense is labelled obsolete and intransitive. en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    verbobsolete

    To steal or obtain by fraud, or to gather things up covertly or indiscriminately.

    Note

    The thieving verb of early modern English is now obsolete. It takes an object: you shark something, such as a purse, by theft or fraud. Its intransitive neighbor, the swindling verb, describes the practice of petty trickery, while this one names the taking itself. Today it belongs only in historical writing or deliberate period pastiche. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The thieving sense is attested in early modern English. en.wiktionary.org
    • The sense meaning to steal or obtain through fraud is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    noun

    Any member of the cartilaginous fish class Chondrichthyes, particularly one of the extinct holocephalians that looked like sharks.
12. 12
    noun

    A night-flying noctuid moth, Cucullia umbratica, whose long, narrow, brownish-gray forewings give it a sleek, streamlined look at rest.
13. 13
    nounslangUK

    A non-first-year university student, in UK usage, who habitually has sex with first-year students, often with several different partners.
14. 14
    verbslangUK

    Of an older university student, to seek out or have casual sex with first-year students.
15. 15
    verb

    To rattle an opponent on purpose in pool, snooker, or another cue sport, using tactics such as chatter, movement, or stalling, so they play poorly or miss their shot.