Trout Meaning
/tɹaʊt/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounAny of several species of fish in Salmonidae, closely related to salmon, and distinguished by spawning more than once.
nounAn objectionable elderly woman.
Sentence Examples
This river abounds in trout.
This lake abounds in trout.
Such fishes as carp and trout live in fresh water.
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the clear mountain stream, the fisherman caught a fresh ____ for dinner.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We went fishing in the clear mountain stream and caught a large ____ that we cooked for our dinner today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English troute, troughte, trught, trouȝt, trouhte, partly from Old English truht (“trout”), and partly from Old French truite; both from Late Latin tructa, perhaps from Ancient Greek τρώκτης (trṓktēs, “nibbler”), from τρώγω (trṓgō, “to gnaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, to turn”). The Internet verb sense originated on BBSes of the 1980s, probably from Monty Python's The Fish-Slapping Dance (1972), though that sketch involved a halibut.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet:[…]."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"“This morning,” he said, “We will fish, Turner. We will cast for trout so that we may catch grayling.”"
— 1922, Michael Arlen, “3/19/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:
"Roman matrons, sexually exhausted, were fond of trout caught in a little stream in the Vosges Mountains."
— 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 237:
"It is not a crime to enjoy some bacon or a trout or what have you."
— 2008, Christopher Paolini, “To Walk the Land Alone”, in Brisingr, page 73:
"But French observers were perplexed not just by the Benny Hill-style frenzy, but by the ensuing British tabloid handwringing about how unfair it was that the UK's women ministers were such a load of ugly trouts compared to Sarkozy's sexy French ladies."
— 2009 March 28, Angelique Chrisafis, “The mystery of the bikini-clad minister”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the clear mountain stream, the fisherman caught a fresh ____ for dinner.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We went fishing in the clear mountain stream and caught a large ____ that we cooked for our dinner today.