pilchard Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun small fatty fish usually canned
    sardine.
  2. noun small fishes found in great schools along coasts of Europe; smaller and rounder than herring
    Sardina pilchardus; sardine.

WordNet

Pil"chard noun
Etymology
Cf. It. pilseir, W. pilcod minnows.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) A small European food fish (Clupea pilchardus) resembling the herring, but thicker and rounder. It is sometimes taken in great numbers on the coast of England.
    Fools are as like husbands as pilchards are to herrings. Shak.

Webster 1913