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Webster 1913 Edition


Swordfish

Sword′fishˊ

,
Noun.
1.
(Zool.)
(a)
A very large oceanic fish (
Xiphias gladius
), the only representative of the family
Xiphiidae
. It is highly valued as a food fish. The bones of the upper jaw are consolidated, and form a long, rigid, swordlike beak; the dorsal fin is high and without distinct spines; the ventral fins are absent. The adult is destitute of teeth. It becomes sixteen feet or more long.
(b)
The gar pike.
(c)
The cutlass fish.
2.
(Astron.)
A southern constellation. See
Dorado
, 1.
Swordfish sucker
(Zool.)
,
a remora (
Remora brachyptera
) which attaches itself to the swordfish.