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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
silverfish
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Appraised value: Ask the silverfish.
▪ In the bathroom I saw silverfish.
▪ Polly wiped the silverfish off the breadboard and started to cry.
▪ The silverfish, for example, has compound eyes but others in the group are blind.
▪ The sound makes small silverfish run down the back of my neck.
▪ Until the cars moving along the university's peripheral roads were silverfish and the whole scene was dappled with low-lying cloud.
▪ We have no direct evidence of how they achieved flight but the living silverfish provides a clue.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
silverfish

Lepisma \Le*pis"ma\ (l[-e]*p[i^]z"m[.a]), n. [NL., fr. Gr. le`pisma peel, fr. lepi`s -i`dos, a scale.] (Zo["o]l.) A genus of wingless thysanurous insects having an elongated flattened body, covered with shining scales and terminated by seven unequal bristles. A common species ( Lepisma saccharina) is found in houses, and often injures books and furniture; it feeds on starch and eats sized paper and starched clothes. Called also shiner, silverfish, silver witch, silver moth, and furniture bug.

silverfish

Tarpum \Tar"pum\, n. (Zo["o]l.) A very large marine fish ( Megapolis Atlanticus) of the Southern United States and the West Indies. It often becomes six or more feet in length, and has large silvery scales. The scales are a staple article of trade, and are used in fancywork. Called also tarpon, sabalo, savanilla, silverfish, and jewfish.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
silverfish

1703, in reference to various types of silver-colored fish (similar formation in German Silberfisch, Dutch zilvervisch); from silver (adj.) + fish (n.). In reference to a type of household insect damaging to books, wallpaper, etc. (also known as silvertail and furniture-bug), it is attested from 1855.

Wiktionary
silverfish

n. 1 (taxlink Lepisma saccharina species noshow=1), a small wingless insect with silvery scales, a type of bristletail. 2 Other similar insects in the order ''(taxlink Zygentoma order noshow=1)'', including: 3 # (taxlink Ctenolepisma lineata species noshow=1), also called (vern four-lined silverfish pedia=1). 4 # (taxlink Ctenolepisma longicaudata species noshow=1), or the (vern grey silverfish pedia=1). 5 (taxlink Megalops atlanticus species noshow=1), the (vern Atlantic tarpon pedia=1), the tarpum. 6 The (vern silver fish pedia=1), (taxlink Raiamas senegalensis species noshow=1). 7 The (vern Antarctic silverfish pedia=1), (taxlink Pleuragramma antarcticum species noshow=1). 8 A white variety of the goldfish.

WordNet
silverfish
  1. n. silver-gray wingless insect found in houses feeding on book bindings and starched clothing [syn: Lepisma saccharina]

  2. a silvery variety of Carassius auratus

  3. [also: silverfishes (pl)]

Wikipedia
Silverfish (band)

Silverfish were a UK-based indie rock band, which formed in the late 1980s, and first performed in Camden in 1988. The band split up in 1993.

Their female lead singer was Scottish-born Lesley Rankine. The band had a high octane, indie punk metal sound that was set alight by Rankine's distinctive vocals and strongly feminist views. Famous lyrics "Hips, Tits, Lips, Power" adorned a popular T-shirt of the time.

The other members of the band were; guitarist Andrew "Fuzz" Duprey; bassist Chris P Mowforth; and drummer Stuart Watson. Founding member Fuzz was a regular "face" at London indie gigs of the time, and is now a regular DJ at the Dublin Castle pub in Camden Town, London. The band stood out from many of their scene-contemporaries with a lineup that was mixed in terms of both gender and ethnicity and a setlist that was more liberally strewn with expletives than that of anyone else. Silverfish were the main focus of the so-called Camden lurch scene, a term invented by the music press to describe the fact that many of the prominent indie bands (outside of the dominant alternative dance and shoegazing scenes) of the time resided in Camden, and that they lurched.

The band's 1980s EPs were collected in a 1990 compilation album called Cockeye. The following year, they released their debut album, Fat Axl, and toured with the band Pigface. In 1992, the group gained wider acclaim with their second album, Organ Fan and supported the band 7 Year Bitch. During the broadcast of a Peel session, BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel summed up their level of success: "If they were from New York, we'd be mad for them of course".

When the band split up in 1993, Rankine moved to Seattle and formed the band Ruby with Mark Walk.

Silverfish

A silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) is a small, wingless insect in the order Thysanura. Its common name derives from the animal's silvery light grey and blue color, combined with the fish-like appearance of its movements, while the scientific name (L. saccharina) indicates the silverfish's diet consists of carbohydrates such as sugar or starches.

Silverfish (disambiguation)

A silverfish is a wingless insect in the order Thysanura.

Silverfish may also refer to:

In other insects:

  • Several other insects also in the order Thysanura, including:
    • Ctenolepisma lineata, also called four-lined silverfish
    • Ctenolepisma longicaudata, or the grey silverfish

In fish: Silver fish (fish); several species with the common name "silver fish"

In other uses:

  • Silver Fish Award, a Girl Scout (or Girl Guide) award
  • Phil Silverfish, a character in the animated TV series Bump in the Night
  • Silverfish (band), a British indie band
  • Silverfish (video game), 2010 video game
  • Silverfish, a graphic novel by David Lapham
  • Silver Fish (or Silberfische), a nickname for Auto Union racing cars
  • "The Silver Fish", a nickname of snooker player Silvino Francisco
  • Silverfish are a hostile mob in the game Minecraft

Usage examples of "silverfish".

I slid off the bed and shook my shoes, dislodging a small roach and a couple of silverfish who had taken shelter in the toes.

The picture became a darkened living room where Poopi Silverfish lounged on an overstuffed couch catercorner with a settee on which a redheaded figure sat sprawled.

The herb santolina, sometimes called lavender cotton, can also be put among books to deter insects like Silverfish.

Boric acid is one of the most effective and safest ways to bait cockroaches and can also be used for ants, crickets, Silverfish, termites and caterpillars.

In the silence, his hyperacute sense of hearing picked up a very faint scratching: colonies of silverfish, gorging their way through an endless supply of pulp.

Then south and west, past the Gray Horn, out into Silverfish Deeps and on, down to Pebble Fleet.

The silverfish, known to insect fans as Lepisma saccharina, enjoys starch as the main staple of its diet.