paddlefish

P3A1D2D2L1E1F4I1S1H4
US/ˈpædəlˌfɪʃ/

noun

Any of several primitive fish, of the family Polyodontidae, that have a long snout shaped like a paddle.

UncommonScrabble 20

Meanings

nounpaddlefish (countable and uncountable, plural paddlefish or paddlefishes)

plural paddlefishes

  1. 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 Times
    1 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 Times

    Synonyms: shovelfish, spadefish

    1. 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.

More synonyms by meaning

nounprimitive fish of the Mississippi valley having a long paddle-shaped snout

Similar
duckbillPolyodon spathula
Broader
ganoidganoid fish

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Englishpaddle
  2. Proto-Indo-European*péysks
  3. Proto-Germanic*fiskaz
  4. Proto-West Germanic*fisk
  5. Old Englishfisċ
  6. Middle Englishfisch
  7. Englishfish
  8. Englishpaddlefish

From paddle + fish.

Full word history & related roots →

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
APA

paddlefish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paddlefish

MLA

“paddlefish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paddlefish. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paddlefish,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paddlefish.

Source: paddlefish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.