Sword"fish` (?), n.
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 ger 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.
© Webster 1913.