fish-plate 
2238 
on each side of the junction of two rails, to incredible or extravagant narration or tale, 
join them end to end, and fastened together by [Colloq., U. S.] 
bolts passing through the rails, when in position, fish-strainer (fish'stra"ner), M. 1. A metal 
they form a fish-joint, and assist in supporting the ends colander, with handles, for taking fish from a 
of the rails as the train passes from one to another. boiler. 2. An earthenware slab, with holes, 
fish-poison (fish'poi"/n), n A name given to j fl h b t f dj h > t d . ^ 
various plants which have the property of kill- J f) . om cooke{ , fish 
mg or stupetyiug tish. The number of such plants fl-v faflrlo rfinli'tnV'11 n Nnnt a tackle IIPI! 
is very large; and the fruit is usually the part employed. "Sn-taCKie (tisli taK I), n. Aaui., a taci 
Among the more commonly known are the A namirta pa- tor fishing or raising an anchor to the gunwale 
niculata, usually called Coeenlvt Indims ; Piscidia Enj- of a ship. To this tackle a pendant is attached, 
thrina, a leguminous tree of the West Indies, the leaves of ^th a large iron hook, called the fish-hook, f as- 
which are used; Lepimmn I'isfitliuin ; the million, Ver- t or . A * ;? 
bascum Thajims ; and the red buckeye, Mscuhu Pavia. - %" I -i ,,TV/V-i\ T i rm. -i 
fish-pomace (fish'pum"as),. 1. The residuum fish-tail (hsh^tal), w.^and a. I. n. 1. The tail 
or refuse of fish, as menhaden, after the oil has 
been expressed. 2. The crude state of fish- 
guano before it has been prepared as a fer- 
tilizer. 
fish, 
fishes , 
bred and kept. 
fissilingual 
4. Dull and expressionless, like the eye of a 
fish. [Colloii.] 
A stout woman with a broad red face am\ fishy eyes. 
C. D. Warner. Thrir Pilgrimage, ]p. !.">. 
5. Equivocal, unsafe, or unsound, as a specula- 
tion or a course of conduct: as, a Jinhi/ venture. 
[Colloq.] 
'I thought it was all up. Didn't you. Ili-nry Sidney?" 
" The DMKjUkf thing I ever saw," said Henry Sidney. 
Ijixrni'li, Coningsby, i. 9. 
6. Plucky; brave; sturdy and enduring; thor- 
ough and faithful in duty : as, fish y to the back- 
bone; a, fixity man. [Fishermen's slang.] 
of a fish. 2. A thysanurous insect of the flskt (fisk), v. i. [< ME. fixkcn, wander about, 
family LtpimMa, as Lepisma domestica or L. be in constant motion, < Sw.Jjesktt, fisk, fidge, 
,. ^ .. ,,, ,,. m ^- saecharina; a silvertail ; a silver-fish: in this fidget. Associated in sense, but not in etymo- 
ilizer. Also called fish-chum. sense properly fishtail. See Lepisma. Also logical form, with fike*, fiijl, frige, etc., and 
sh-pond (fish 'pond), n. A pond containing called fishmoth. [Local, U. S.] frisk, whisk,] To jump about ; bustle or frisk 
ishes; especially, a pond in which fishes are II. a. Shaped like a fish's tail; resembling about. 
a _ _ j TL__ Q rian'a toil in utiv israv TMnV. +nii !*.*. o^ 
Fish-ponds were made, where former Forests grew ; 
And Hills were levell'd to extend the View. 
a fish's tail in any way Fish-tall burner. See 
burner. Fish-tall propeller (naut.), a propeller con- 
sisting of a single wing or blade attached to the stern-post 
of a ship, and oscillating like a fish's tail. 
Prior, Solomon, ii. fish-tongue (fish'tung), n. A dental instrument 
fish-pool (fish'pol), n. [< ME. fischepol, < AS. for the removal of the wisdom-teeth: so named 
fisepol, < fisc, fish, + pol, pool. ] A pond or pool from its shape, 
for fish. fish-torpedo (fish'tor-pe ''do), i. 1. A self-pro- 
Thine eyes likethe ./Js^ofc in Heshbon, bythegateof pelling torpedo. See torpedo. 2. A cartridge aylcmer w uu cai 
Bathrabbim. Cant. vii. 4. designed to be exploded under water for the a v IK /i A , 
purpose of killing fish. ft*J%5 4 > ?' 
And what frek of thys to}ae Jisketh thus a-boute, 
With n bagge at hus bak a begelieldes wyse? 
Piers Plitii'iuttii (('), x. 153. 
Trotiere, &fiskiny huswife, a ranging damsel, a gadding 
or wandering flirt. Cotgratx. 
Himself doth ambush in a bushy Thorn ; 
Then in a Caue, then in a field of Corn. 
Creeps to and fro, and fisteth in and out, 
And yet the safety of each plaee doth doubt. 
Sylvester, tr. of DH Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Imposture. 
i preserved al: 
commonly distinguished, the fresh- and salt- "' some sort to prevent their' egress, 
water. 2. A private fishery. fish-trowel (fish'trou^el), n. 
fish-prong (fish'prong), n. A fish-fork with 
fisnomyt, " [Early mod. E. also fisnamy, ris- 
Same as Ml- nonl y>(ME.fisnomy,fysn<>mye,fysnamie,phiso- 
nomy, etc., < OF. pnisonomie, phinosomie, philo- 
one'tine'an'd a shorf'h'andle, used in moving fish-van (fish'van), w. A covered vehicle adapt- ^ mie > F - physioitomie = Pr. phizonomia = Sp. 
pickled or dried fish. edtorun on passenger-trains, and fitted to carry fnonna = Pg. physwnomia = It. .fisoiiniiiin, 
ish-pugh (fish'pug), 11. A one-pronged fork fresh fish in crates or boxes. Car-Builder's Diet. "* ^"'o) *>/", late and incorrect form of 
handling fish. C. Hallock. [Eng.] 
fish-warden (fish'wSr'dn), . An officer who 
n. A general name has jurisdiction over the fisheries of any partic- 
ular locality. Some of the States employ wardens to 
oversee the fisheries in streams and ponds, and prevent 
unlawful fishing. |U. S.) 
An arrangement for en- 
abling a fish to ascend a fall or a dam. in the 2. The face ; countenance ; appearance ; plivs- 
pool fishirai/s the water falls through small vertical heights, iognomy (which see), 
the velocity being retarded by means of rocks and boulders 
or by falling into pools whence it is allowed to fall again 
through a slight vertical distance to be again retarded, 
and so on to the bottom. In the deflected-current fishways 
the current is retarded by being made to travel through 
a distance equal to many times the perpendicular descent, 
being frequently interrupted by objects so placed in its 
course as to cause a change in its direction. In the coun- 
ter-current fishways the water is delivered down the in- 
cline without acceleration of velocity. This is accom- 
plished by compelling the water to travel in a constrained 
path. Also called fish-ladder. 
fish. 
or spear used in 
[Nova Scotia.] 
fish-refuse (fish'reFus), 
of any one of the several conditions or stages 
through which fish-scrap passes in the manu- 
facture of fish-guano. 
fish-roe (fish'ro), n. The roe of fish, it is much fishway (hsh wa), H. 
used for bait, a small quantity being secured to the hook 
in a bit of inosqui to-netting or by means of woolen threads. 
For this purpose fresh roe is the best ; but it can be pre- 
served for a year in equal parts of salt and saltpeter. 
fish-roomt (fish'rom), n. On an English man- 
of-war, a small storeroom in the afterhold 
where fish and sometimes spirits were kept. 
Hamersly. 
fish-sauce (fish'sas), . Sauce to be eaten 
with fish, as anchovy, soy, etc. 
fish-scale (fish'skal), n. A scale of a fish. 
Fish-scale embroidery, embroidery consisting wholly 
. , 
<twjioyv(j/iovia, physiognomy: see physiognomy, 
of which fisnomy (with the mod. abbr. phi;) is 
a corrupted form.] 1. The art of judging the 
character of a person by the countenance or 
appearance. 
The childe couthe of/i/wnnwye. 
Seven Sages, 1. 1072. 
He feyede his/(/mai?/e with his foule hondez, 
And frappez faste at hys face fersely there-aftyr '. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 1114. 
When he [a bear] waz lose, to shake hiz earz twyse or 
thryse wyth the blud & the slauer aboout his jHznain;/, 
waz a matter of a goodly releef. 
Ji. Laneham, Letter from Keuilworth (157S). 
Faith, sir, a' has an English name; but his fisnomy w 
more hotter in France than here. Shak., All's Well, iv. 5. 
or m part in the application of fish-scales to the material fiah-weir ffish'werl Same as Hth nnrfh 
to be decorated. The iridescent scales are selected and 2 vJ2? /<?/ - A ' i 
are sewed to the stuff, being combined with the patterns "ShWlfe (fish wif), w. ; pi. fishwives (-wivz). 
of the needlework. woman who sells fish. ^ r 
fish-SCrap (fish'skrap), n. Fish or fish-skins fishwoman (fish ' wum * an), n.: pi. fishicomen cally applied to the antenna: when the It 
from which oil or glue has been extracted by (-wim"en). Same as fishwife. tt52!?iw3Ej!28Z* td ' Iike "" 
pnnViiiCT anrt n^oaui,ir ui.i. ., ._ i_ _.__ ,' floli-nrniul fftol.',-,,^ , rri,,, t ^ nm i , , *" "rial" Jcmnrnimiaa. 
fissate (fis'at), a. [< L. fissus, pp. of finclere, 
cleave (tee fissile). + -atei.] Fissured; cleft; 
split; especially, in en torn., having the apical 
portion divided or split into two parts. Specifi- 
ast joint forms twi > 
e prongs of a fork. 
IIAIV ui me U]I|M> ooiameu 111 me 1'imeci states. Ada- A i. ii* /.c i/ i ' \ TT. * 
ulated fish-scrap, a preparation of flsh-scrap with sul- "Sh-WOrking (nsh wer"king), n. Fish-culture; 
phuric acid to render the phosphoric acid contained in it the artificial propagation of fish. 
more soluble and to hinder putrefaction fish-Works (fish'werks), II. pi. 1. The _, 
fish-Show (fish sho), n. An exhibition of fish auces and contrivances used in fish-culture 
and fisheries tne artificial propagation of fish. 2. A place 
fish-skin (fish skin), w. TI.--I-J *_i.. 
c' 
fish- 
fish-slide (fish'slid'j, 
rivers and * 
ern United 
fish-smother 
dish of fish. [Grand Manan.] 
fish-sound (fish'sound), n. The swimming-blad- 
der or air-sac of a fish. The sounds of some 
fishes are made into glue, and others, as in the 
case of the cod, are eaten. 
fish-spear (fish'sper), . 1. A gig or lance, 
often having more than one tine, for spearing 
fish through ice or from a boat. 
[< L. fissus, cleft, 
pp. of finders, cleave (see fissile), + costatus, 
diform stems and two-ranked leaves, which are 
Where are the flowry fields, t}\e fishy streames, 
The pasturing mountaines, and the fertile plaines? 
Stirling, Doomes-day, Third Houre. 
2. Like fish; having a fish-like quality: as, a 
fishy taste or smell. 
fissil, v. and n. 
fissile (fis'il), a. 
[<"L. fissilia, cleft, that may 
be cleft, < fissus, pp. of finclere, cleave, split : 
see fent.'} 1. Capable of being split, cleft, or 
divided into layers, as wood in the direction of 
the grain, or certain minerals and rocks in the 
planes of cleavage or foliation. See schist and 
cleavage. 
This crystal is a pellucid fisnle stone. Keieton, Opticks. 
A solid pumice-stone which possesses a fissile structure, 
like that of certain micaceous schists. 
Daninn, Geol. Observations, i. 75. 
A very fissile and smooth calcareous shale. 
- , .liin-r. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., XXXI. 126. 
nsh-Store (fish stor), . A storehouse in which 3. Extravagant, as a story; dubious or incred- 2 In entom formed of nlates or scales which 
fish are salted or packed awaiting shipment to Me, like many stories told about fishing and Se eCl? S^ed i rlpose, but mly be 
fiXTtorv ^h'atn'Vn , Compare fish-story. [Colloq.] spread apart : an epithet sometimes applied to 
nsfl-story (nsh sto'ri), . [In allusion to the We did not lose a man "" ' " ' 
supposed tendency of amateur fishermen to they had 
ixaggerate in naiTating their exploits.] An Altogei..., , ,= ory <oo .,,/. r Anuncon. > . S3. nnauis ( v L.. nssus. cietr. cloven. + /,-,, 
Canst thou fill his [leviathan's] skin with barbed irons? 
or his head with Jish spears' Job xli. 7. 
2. A lance for bleeding captured whales. 
fish-Stage (fish'staj), . A stage for dressing 
fish. 
And when they arose early on the morrow morning, be- 
hold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before 
the ark of the Lord ; and the head of Dagon and both the 
palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold ; only 
the fishy part of Dagon was left to him. 
1 Sam. v. 4 (margin). 
Better pleased 
Than Asmodeus with thefishii fume, 
That drove him, though enaiilour'd, from the spouse 
Of Tobifs son. Milton, F. L., iv. 168. 
' "' spreau apart : an epitnet sometimes applied to 
id not lose a man. This sounds rather fishy; but lamellate antennas. 
d no artillery. A'e><< York Tribune, Nov. 25, 1861. fissilingual (fis-i-ling'gwal), a. [< NL. fissi- 
ether, the story is too fishy. The .!//.< ,,>,/. v. s:;. linguis(<. L. fissus, cleft, cloven, + lingua = E. 
