noun
smelt
A small silvery fish often eaten as food.
We serve fried smelt with lemon at our family restaurant.
Etymology
Old English smelt already named the fish. The modern word preserves that fish name, separate from the metal-processing verb.
More examples
- A school of smelt swims near the shore.
- She coats the smelts in flour before frying them.
- This smelt has shiny scales and a slender body.
Forms
smelt · smelts