English Explanatory Dictionary

sprat

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Any of various small, herring-like, marine fish in the genus Sprattus, in the family Clupeidae.
  2. Any of various similar fish of other genera.
  3. Anything petty or insignificant.
  4. A sixpence.
verb
  1. To manure (land) with sprats (the fish).

Pronunciation

/spɹæt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-sprat.wav

Word forms

sprat sprats spratting spratted

Etymology

From Middle English sprotte, from Old English sprot. Older source is unknown. Cognate with German Sprotte, Dutch sprot. Compare sprout.

Related words

spratting pilchard sardine

Derived words

a sprat to catch a mackerel throw a sprat to catch a mackerel European sprat slender sprat spratlike spratter
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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