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shark1 definition

shark (s̸härk)

noun

  1. a person who victimizes others, as by swindling or cheating
  2. ☆ Slang a person with great ability in a given activity; adept; expert

Etymology: prob. < Ger schurke, scoundrel, rogue, sharper < MHG schurgen, to push, mislead < IE *skēu- < base *sek-, to cut > saw

transitive verb, intransitive verb

Archaic to get or live by fraud or stratagems
shark2 definition

shark (s̸härk)

noun

any of various orders of cartilaginous fishes that are usually large and mostly marine, having a tough, spiny, usually slate-gray skin, separate lateral gill openings, and a slender, rounded body with the mouth on the underside: most sharks are fish-eaters, and some will attack humans

Etymology: ? akin to shark

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

business shark definition - business

shark Synonyms

shark

n.

  1. Fish].

    Kinds of sharks include: whale, basking, mako, angel, blue, man-eating, hammerhead, thresher, mackerel, gray, dog, bonnethead, shovelhead, dusky, Port Jackson, sharp-nose, spinous, great white, sand, nurse, sleeper, tiger;

  2. A con artist

    swindler, cheat, flimflam artist.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

shark Usage Examples

Possessives

  • fin: But Thorne felt certain the post was moving toward him, almost like a shark's fin through the mist.

Converse of object

  • bask: The biggest is the basking shark which is the second largest shark in the world.

Adjective modifier

  • man-eating: It will be a high energy performance packed with pirates, man-eating sharks and even a ghost ship.

Modifies a noun

  • fin: Usually they've got horns or a shark fin on their hoods.

Noun used with modifier

  • hammerhead: Of special interest are the schools of up to 300 hammerhead sharks.
shark usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

shark quotes

   Und der Haifisch, der hat Z a« hne Und die tr a« gt er im Gesicht Und Macheath, der hat ein Messer Doch das Messer sieht man nicht. Oh, the shark has pretty teeth, dear, And he shows them pearly white. Just a jack-knife has Macheath, dear, And he keeps it out of sight.

-Brecht, Bertolt Eugen Friedrich

[They] will fearlessly commit both parties to favor mother love and the protection of the whooping crane, and to oppose the man-eating shark and the more unpopular forms of sin.

-Brinkley, David McClure

shark quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"shark." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/shark>

APA Style

shark. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/shark

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