noun

salmon

SA-muhn

noun

A large fish with silvery sides and pink flesh that swims from the sea into rivers to spawn.

"The bears gathered at the river to catch salmon as they swam upstream."

"We had grilled salmon with a lemon butter sauce for dinner."

adj

A pale pinkish-orange colour, like cooked salmon flesh.

"She painted the bedroom walls a soft salmon colour."

How to Use Salmon

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA pink-fleshed fish prized for eating, or the pale pink-orange colour named after it.

Common pairings

smoked salmon salmon fillet a salmon-pink dress

Word Forms

salmoned past tense, salmon plural, salmons plural, salmons singular

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The bears gathered at the river to catch _____ as they swam upstream.

Etymology

From Old French saumon, from Latin salmo. The silent "l" was added later by scholars trying to make the spelling look more Latin, the same trend that gave us the silent letters in "debt" and "receipt."