shark
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Any predatory fish of the superorder Selachimorpha.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
shahrkIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈʃɑɹk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
ichthyologycountable
Any predatory fish of the superorder Selachimorpha, with a cartilaginous skeleton and 5 to 7 gill slits on each side of its head.
A freshwater fish that resembles a true shark (Selachimorpha) in appearance or movement; a freshwater shark.
Someone who exploits others, for example by trickery, lies, usury, extortion.
paleontologyloosely
Any fish of the class Chondrichthyes, especially an extinct shark-like holocephalian.
Any fish in the genus Epalzeorhynchos.
Any fish in the genus Balantiocheilos.
verb
transitive
To engage in sexual activity with a fresher.
intransitive
To cruise for casual sex with a fresher at a bar or club.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (ichthyology, countable) Any predatory fish of the superorder Selachimorpha, with a cartilaginous skeleton and 5 to 7 gill slits on each side of its head.
Used this way, shark is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use shark
- “We saw a small shark swimming near the coral reef.”
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.