stickleback

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noun

Any one of numerous species of small fish of the family Gasterosteidae. The back is armed with two or more sharp spines. They inhabit both salt and brackish water, and construct nests from weeds.

Similar
minnowsticklebagsharplingprickleback
OriginOld English sticel →
UncommonScrabble 25
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Meanings

nounstickleback (plural sticklebacks)

plural sticklebacks

  1. Any one of numerous species of small fish of the family Gasterosteidae. The back is armed with two or more sharp spines. They inhabit both salt and brackish water, and construct nests from weeds.

    [I]n my exile and irkeſome diſcontented abandonment, the ſillieſt millers thombe, or contemptible ſtickle-banck of my enemies, is as buſie nibbling about my fame, as if I were a deade man throwne amongeſt them to feede vpon.

    1599, [Thomas] Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe, […], London: […] [Thomas Judson and Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and C[uthbert] B[urby] […], →OCLC, page 1

    Synonyms: minnow, sticklebag, sharpling

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAny one of numerous species of small fish of the family Gasterosteidae. The back is armed with two or more sharp spines. They inhabit both salt and brackish water, and construct nests from weeds.

Similar
minnowsticklebagsharpling

More synonyms by meaning

nounsmall (2-4 inches) pugnacious mostly scaleless spiny-backed fishes of northern fresh and littoral waters having elaborate courtship; subjects of much research

Similar
prickleback
Broader
spiny-finned fishacanthopterygian
Also see
minnowpricklebacksticklebag

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Englishsticel
  2. Englishstickleback

From dialectal stickle (“a prickle, spine, sting”), from Old English sticel + bæc. See stick (transitive verb) and compare banstickle.

More words from Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian бодливка, къдринка
  • бодливка (bodlivka)fish of the family Gasterosteidae
  • къдринка (kădrinka)fish of the family Gasterosteidae
Catalan punxoset
  • punxosetfish of the family Gasterosteidae
Dutch stekelbaars
  • stekelbaarsfish of the family Gasterosteidae
Finnish piikkikala
  • piikkikalafish of the family Gasterosteidae
French épinoche
  • épinochefish of the family Gasterosteidae
German Stichling
  • Stichlingfish of the family Gasterosteidae
Irish biorach lodáin, snáthaid mhara
  • biorach lodáinfish of the family Gasterosteidae
  • snáthaid mharafish of the family Gasterosteidae
  • garmachánfish of the family Gasterosteidae
Polish ciernik
  • ciernikfish of the family Gasterosteidae
Russian ко́люшка
  • ко́люшка (kóljuška)fish of the family Gasterosteidae
Scottish Gaelic réibean
  • réibeanfish of the family Gasterosteidae
Swedish spigg
  • spiggfish of the family Gasterosteidae
Ukrainian колю́чка
  • колю́чка (koljúčka)fish of the family Gasterosteidae
Welsh crothell
  • crothellfish of the family Gasterosteidae
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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