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prettygoodwordhalibut (HAL-uh-buht, HOL-uh-buht) - n., any of several large marine flatfishes, esp. Hippoglossus hippoglossus of the North Atlantic and H. stenolepis of the Pacific.
The largest flatfishes, plus among the largest bony fishes. I mean, freakin' huge:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
They are widely caught as food. Interestingly, halibuts sometimes leave the ocean floor and swim about vertically -- I didn't know flatfishes ever did that. The 14th century form of the name was halybutte, from haly, holy + butte, flatfish (from Middle Dutch, from a Germanic root, from the PIE root chau-, to strike, as if these are fish that have been smushed flat).
---L.
The largest flatfishes, plus among the largest bony fishes. I mean, freakin' huge:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
They are widely caught as food. Interestingly, halibuts sometimes leave the ocean floor and swim about vertically -- I didn't know flatfishes ever did that. The 14th century form of the name was halybutte, from haly, holy + butte, flatfish (from Middle Dutch, from a Germanic root, from the PIE root chau-, to strike, as if these are fish that have been smushed flat).
---L.
