little tunny

noun

variants or less commonly little tuna
plural little tunnies also little tuna or little tunas
: a small active nearly scaleless tuna (Euthynnus alletteratus) of warm usually shallow marine waters that is blue above with short dark wavy stripes and silvery-white below, that typically reaches a length of 32 inches (81 centimeters), and that is valued as a sport fish : false albacore
There may be no better inshore fighting fish than the little tunny, but they're also the poorest table fare in the family …The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey)
A little tunny is not an acrobat but it is a powerful speedster …Zach Zacharias
False albacore, or little tuna, have constantly been a challenge for me from the beach.Eric Burnley

called also bonito

Examples of little tunny in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The world-record little tunny weighed 36 pounds and was caught off the coast of Spain in 2020. Joe Cermele, Field & Stream, 23 Aug. 2023 At the July rodeo, Kyle Davis topped the leaderboard with a 22.24-pound bonito, a species also known as little tunny. al, 13 Sep. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1872, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of little tunny was in 1872

Dictionary Entries Near little tunny

Cite this Entry

“Little tunny.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/little%20tunny. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

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