# shark

Pronunciation: US say "SHAHRK" /ʃɑɹk/; UK say "SHAHK" /ʃɑːk/

## Noun

1. Any of the predatory cartilaginous fishes making up the superorder Selachimorpha, distinguished by five to seven gill slits on either side of the head.
   - Simple: A meat-eating fish, mostly found in the sea, whose skeleton is made of bendy material, not hard bone.
   - _Marine biologists tagged the shark to track its migration across the Pacific._
   - _Several sharks circled the reef where the seals hauled out._
2. A person who exploits others through trickery, lies, usury, or extortion.
   - Simple: A person who cheats or robs others to take their money or things.
   - _He turned out to be a shark who fleeced his own clients for years._
   - _A shark like that preys on people too desperate to read the fine print._
3. A ruthless, aggressive person, especially in business or law, who pursues gain with little regard for others. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A person, often in business or law, who is hard, greedy, and willing to hurt others to win.
   - _The negotiation was brutal, and the other side were absolute sharks._
   - _Everyone in town knew the lawyer was a shark who would ruin anyone standing between him and a big settlement._
4. A very skilled player, especially at pool or cards, who wins money from weaker players; an expert. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A very good player, especially at pool or cards, who wins money from weaker players, or any expert.
   - _The tournament was packed with sharks hunting easy winnings._
   - _He is a real shark at the pool table and rarely loses a game played for money._
5. The flesh of a shark, consumed as food.
   - Simple: Meat from a shark, prepared and eaten as food.
   - _Many restaurants stopped serving shark after concerns about overfishing._
   - _Grilled shark has a firm texture similar to swordfish._
6. A person who feigns ineptitude in a game to win money from unsuspecting opponents.
   - Simple: A player who pretends to be bad so others bet money and lose.
   - _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._
7. Any of several freshwater fish that look or move like a true shark without being one, including the iridescent shark and the roseline shark.
   - Simple: A river or lake fish that looks or moves like a shark but is not a true 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._

## Verb

8. To fish for sharks as the intended catch. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To go out fishing in order to catch sharks.
   - _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._
9. To commit small thefts or deceive others for gain, sometimes as a means of supporting oneself. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old word meaning to steal small things or cheat others, sometimes as a way of making a living.
10. To steal or obtain by fraud, or to gather things up covertly or indiscriminately. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old word meaning to steal or get things by cheating, or gather them secretly or without choosing carefully.

## Other meanings

- (noun) Any member of the cartilaginous fish class Chondrichthyes, particularly one of the extinct holocephalians that looked like sharks.
- (noun) A night-flying noctuid moth, Cucullia umbratica, whose long, narrow, brownish-gray forewings give it a sleek, streamlined look at rest.
- (noun) A non-first-year university student, in UK usage, who habitually has sex with first-year students, often with several different partners.
- (verb) Of an older university student, to seek out or have casual sex with first-year students.
- (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.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 5, 7–8** — First recorded in Middle English (in a 1442 account of Thomas Beckington's voyage, for a kind of fish), of uncertain origin. It most likely came from a meaning-shift of the German-derived "shark" ("scoundrel"); older dictionaries linked it instead to Latin c(h)archarias from Ancient Greek, or to Yucatec Maya xok ("shark"), but the 1442 date rules out a New World origin.
**Meanings 2–4, 6, 9–10** — From German Schurke ("scoundrel"), which can be compared with Dutch schurk.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/shark (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).