shark
- 01 A1 Beginner
n.a large fish with very sharp teeth and a skeleton made of cartilage instead of bone.
n.any predatory fish of the superorder Selachimorpha, characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton and multiple gill slits.
Simple“The children were excited to see a great white shark at the aquarium.”
In context“Marine biologists tracked the shark across the Pacific to better understand its migratory patterns and hunting grounds.”
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.someone who uses tricks or dishonest methods to get money from other people.
n.a person who exploits others through trickery, usury, or extortion, often in a professional context.
Simple“Be careful with that salesman; he is a total shark and will overcharge you.”
In context“The neighborhood was wary of the loan sharks who preyed on families struggling to make ends meet during the recession.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a person who is very good at a specific activity, like a game or a sport.
n.an individual who demonstrates exceptional skill or dominance in a particular field or competitive activity.
Simple“Don't play cards with him unless you want to lose; he is a real pool shark.”
In context“She became a corporate shark, quickly rising through the ranks by outmaneuvering her more experienced colleagues.”
- 04 C2 Proficiency
v.to act in a dishonest way to get something from someone else.
v.to obtain something through fraud or to practice trickery and shifts.
Simple“In the old story, the thief tried to shark his way into the palace.”
In context“The protagonist spent his youth sharking for a living among the docks, surviving on whatever he could steal or swindle.”
Synonymsswindlecheat
Usage shark known
From Middle English shark (used by Thomas Beckington in 1442 to refer to a kind of fish), of uncertain origin. Most likely from a semantic extension of the German-derived shark (“scoundrel”), see below. The fish was originally called a dogfish or haye in English and Middle English. Its name in Old English is unknown, although some uses of the word hranfisċ that do not appear to carry the sense of "whale" may have been referencing it. alternative theories Some older dictionaries derived the word from Latin c(h)archarias, c(h)acharus (from Ancient Greek), but admit that "the requisite [Old French] forms intermediate between E. shark and L. carcharus are not found, and it is not certain that the name [shark] was orig. applied to the fish; it may have been first used of a greedy man". Other older authorities speculated that the word might derive from Yucatec Maya xok (“fish”) (/ʃok/), as John Hawkins brought a specimen from the area where Mayan was spoken to England in the 1560s. However, the 1442 use rules out a New World origin for the word.
From German Schurke (“scoundrel”); compare Dutch schurk.
Probably from the "steal" senses above, but perhaps related to shear. Compare shirk.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.