Meanings
plural paddlefishes
- countableuncountableAny of several primitive fish, of the family Polyodontidae, that have a long snout shaped like a paddle.
Caviar comes from various species of sturgeons and paddlefishes.
1996 May 21, The Associated Press, “Test for Caviar Source”, in The New York Times1 more example
A plucky, compact vendor of fish, Mr. Shuckman spent years peddling southern paddlefish roe from his seafood shop in Louisville, knocking on doors of fancy restaurants and country clubs, asking anyone who would listen, "Y'all want some caviar?"
2003 July 20, Jeffrey Gettleman, “Humble Paddlefish Fulfills Southerners' Caviar Dreams”, in The New York TimesSynonyms: shovelfish, spadefish
- countableoftenspecificallyuncountableThe American paddlefish.
Synonyms: shovelfish, spadefish, American paddlefish, shovelfish, spadefish, duckbill, duckbill cat, duck-billed cat
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny of several primitive fish, of the family Polyodontidae, that have a long snout shaped like a paddle.
nounThe American paddlefish.
More synonyms by meaning
nounprimitive fish of the Mississippi valley having a long paddle-shaped snout
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Englishpaddle
- Proto-Indo-European*péysks
- Proto-Germanic*fiskaz
- Proto-West Germanic*fisk
- Old Englishfisċ
- Middle Englishfisch
- Englishfish
- Englishpaddlefish
Translations
Bulgarian веслонос
- веслонос (veslonos)fish of the family Polyodontidae
Catalan peix espàtula
- peix espàtulafish of the family Polyodontidae
Chinese Mandarin 匙吻鱘 /匙吻鲟, 白鱘 /白鲟
- 匙吻鱘 /匙吻鲟 (chíwěnxún)fish of the family Polyodontidae
- 白鱘 /白鲟 (báixún)fish of the family Polyodontidae
Dutch lepelsteur
- lepelsteurfish of the family Polyodontidae
Finnish miekkasampi, lapasampi
- miekkasampifish of the family Polyodontidae
- lapasampifish of the family Polyodontidae
French poisson-spatule, polydon
- poisson-spatulefish of the family Polyodontidae
- polydonfish of the family Polyodontidae
German Löffelstör
- Löffelstörfish of the family Polyodontidae
Hungarian kanalastok
- kanalastokfish of the family Polyodontidae
Japanese ヘラチョウザメ
- ヘラチョウザメ (herachouzame)fish of the family Polyodontidae
Polish wiosłonos
- wiosłonosfish of the family Polyodontidae
Portuguese peixe-espátula
- peixe-espátulafish of the family Polyodontidae
Russian веслоно́с
- веслоно́с (veslonós)fish of the family Polyodontidae
Spanish pez espátula
- pez espátulafish of the family Polyodontidae
Thai ฉลามปากเป็ด
- ฉลามปากเป็ด (chà-lǎam-bpàak-bpèt)fish of the family Polyodontidae
Cite this entry
paddlefish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paddlefish
“paddlefish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paddlefish. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paddlefish,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paddlefish.
Source: paddlefish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.