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Definition of "sprat" []

  • A small marine food fish (Clupea sprattus) of northeast Atlantic waters that is eaten fresh or smoked and is often canned in oil as a sardine. Also called brisling. (noun)
  • Any of various other similar fishes, such as a young herring. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "sprat" in a sentence
  • "That most extensively employed in this country is the sprat, which is occasionally caught in enormous quantities on the Norfolk coast, and used as an application for turnips."
  • "Even Barack Obama might think that a very fat sprat to catch a rather bony mackerel."
  • "Truth be told, everything passed me by in the 1980's because that was our three babies in four years decade and mostly I was either a beached whale or a frazzled sprat."