dogfish Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun primitive long-bodied carnivorous freshwater fish with a very long dorsal fin; found in sluggish waters of North America
    Amia calva; grindle; bowfin.
  2. noun any of several small sharks

WordNet

Dog"fish` noun
Definitions
(Zoöl.)
  1. A small shark, of many species, of the genera Mustelus, Scyllium, Spinax, etc. ✍ The European spotted dogfishes (Scyllium catudus, and S. canicula) are very abundant; the American smooth, or blue dogfish is Mustelus canis; the common picked, or horned dogfish (Squalus acanthias) abundant on both sides of the Atlantic.
  2. The bowfin (Amia calva). See Bowfin.
  3. The burbot of Lake Erie.

Webster 1913