SHAD • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Shad

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noun

Shad n. (Written also chad) (Zool.) Any one of several species of food fishes of the Herring family. The American species (Alosa sapidissima formerly Clupea sapidissima), which is abundant on the Atlantic coast and ascends the larger rivers in spring to spawn, is an important market fish. The European allice shad, or alose (Alosa alosa formerly Clupea alosa), and the twaite shad (Alosa finta formerly Clupea finta), are less important species. Note: The name is loosely applied, also, to several other fishes, as the gizzard shad (see under Gizzard), called also mud shad, white-eyed shad, and winter shad.

Hardboaded shad, or Yellow-tailed shad, the menhaden.

Hickory shad, or Tailor shad, the mattowacca.

Long-boned shad, one of several species of important food fishes of the Bermudas and the West Indies, of the genus Gerres.

Shad bush (Bot.), a name given to the North American shrubs or small trees of the rosaceous genus Amelanchier (Amelanchier Canadensis, and Amelanchier alnifolia). Their white racemose blossoms open in April or May, when the shad appear, and the edible berries (pomes) ripen in June or July, whence they are called Juneberries. The plant is also called service tree, and Juneberry.

Shad frog, an American spotted frog (Rana halecina); so called because it usually appears at the time when the shad begin to run in the rivers.

Trout shad, the squeteague.

White shad, the common shad.

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Etymology of 'Shad'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Shad" Quotes from Famous Books

... from Capricorn or Cancer. Altruism must halt the story thus long. On, diner, weary of the culinary subterfuges of the Gallic chef, hie thee to El Refugio! There only will you find a fish—bluefish, shad or pompano from the Gulf—baked after the Spanish method. Tomatoes give it color, individuality and soul; chili colorado bestows upon it zest, originality and fervor; unknown herbs furnish piquancy and mystery, and—but ...

— Strictly Business • O. Henry

... rivers in their lower courses, abound with fish and waterfowl. Hunting the canvas-back duck and other fowls for the Northern cities is a regular and profitable branch of industry; while herring, shad and rock-fishing is pursued, especially along Albemarle Sound, with spirit, skill and energy, and a ...

— School History of North Carolina • John W. Moore

... and bloom of the deep-sea flowers amid which drowned men's "bones are coral made" seem of one temperament with the polyps as they slowly, slowly wave their tendrils and petals; but there is amusement if not pleasure in store for the traveller who turns from them to the company of shad softly and continuously circling in their tank, and regarding the spectators with a surly dignity becoming to people in better society than others. One large shad, imaginably of very old family and independent property, sails at the head of several smaller shad, his flatterers ...

— Roman Holidays and Others • W. D. Howells

... saw turbot, salmon, or fresh cod; but the rock and shad are excellent. There is a great want of skill in the composition of sauces; not only with fish, but with every thing. They use very few made dishes, and I never saw any that would be approved by our savants. ...

— Domestic Manners of the Americans • Fanny Trollope

... the original home. Thus some kinds of bass, which belong to the marine family of sea-perches, live in the sea or in estuaries, while two have become permanent residents in fresh water. Or, again, the members of the herring family are very distinctively marine, but the shad, which belong to this family, spawn in rivers and may spend their ...

— The Outline of Science, Vol. 1 (of 4) - A Plain Story Simply Told • J. Arthur Thomson

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