# whiting

Pronunciation: say "WY-ting" /ˈwaɪtɪŋ/

## Noun

1. A marine fish of the North Atlantic (Merlangius merlangus), in the cod family and resembling cod; known in the US as English whiting.
   - Simple: A fish of the North Atlantic that belongs to the cod family and looks a lot like cod.
   - _The chef poached a whole whiting in white wine and herbs._
   - _Trawlers off Norway hauled in nets full of whiting._
2. In American usage, any of several marine fish of North American coastal waters, especially the silver hake (Merluccius bilinearis) and other hakes. *(US)*
   - Simple: In the United States, a name used for several coastal sea fish, especially the silver hake.
   - _Along the New England coast, fishermen sell whiting caught close to shore._
   - _Restaurants across the Mid-Atlantic often list whiting as an affordable white-fleshed fish._
3. A fine white chalk, ground to a powder and used in paints, putty, whitewash, and similar preparations.
   - Simple: A soft white powder made from chalk, used in paint, putty, and whitewash.
   - _The decorator stirred whiting into the whitewash before coating the barn walls._
   - _Traditional glaziers bind whiting with linseed oil to make putty._
5. A fish of the drum family (Menticirrhus americanus) found along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States, also called the southern kingfish.
   - Simple: A small coastal fish of the southern U.S. Atlantic and Gulf shores, often caught from the beach.
   - _Anglers along the Gulf Coast prize whiting for its sweet, firm meat._
   - _The southern whiting feeds on small crustaceans in the surf zone._
6. A marine fish of the Northern Hemisphere, Micromesistius poutassou, belonging to the cod family and also called blue whiting.
   - Simple: A sea fish of the cod family, also called blue whiting, found in the northern half of the world.
   - _Fisheries in the northeast Atlantic land huge quantities of blue whiting, and much of the whiting goes to fishmeal._
   - _Frozen blue whiting costs very little, and the small whiting fries up crisp in a hot pan._
7. A North Pacific marine fish of the cod family (Gadus chalcogrammus, syn. Theragra chalcogramma), more widely known as Alaska pollock. *(Canada)*
   - Simple: A North Pacific food fish of the cod family, also known as Alaska pollock.
   - _Surimi and imitation crab are often produced from whiting harvested in the Bering Sea._
   - _The North Pacific whiting fishery is among the largest in the world._
8. Any of the smelt-whitings (family Sillaginidae), slender fish inhabiting Indo-Pacific coasts, several species of which are commercially important food fish.
   - Simple: Any of several slender coastal fish of the Indo-Pacific, valued as food and sometimes called smelt-whiting.
   - _Along Australian beaches, anglers cast for whiting over the sandy shallows where the fish feed._
   - _Markets across Southeast Asia sell whiting netted from coastal shallows._
9. A slender marine fish (Micromesistius australis) of the cod family, native to the Southern Hemisphere and known as the southern blue whiting.
   - Simple: A slender sea fish of the cod family that lives in the cold oceans of the southern half of the world.
   - _Fleets fishing off southern Chile and New Zealand harvest whiting in deep, cold water._
   - _The southern blue whiting spawns near the Falkland Islands, and the whiting then move to feeding grounds farther south._

## Verb

4. Present participle and gerund of white. — present participle and gerund of white
   - Simple: The -ing form of white. Use it after am, is, are, was or were, or to name the action.

## Origin

**Meanings 3–4** — Formed from "white" plus the suffix "-ing".
**Meanings 1–2, 5–9** — From Middle English "whityng" or "whytyng", perhaps an alteration of Old English "hwītling" (whiting), remodelled after "white" plus the diminutive suffix "-ing". It is related to the colour white, and is cognate with Dutch "wijting" and Old Norse "hvítingr" (a kind of whale).

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