any of several North American species of small pike
<noun.animal>
Pickerel \Pick"er*el\, n. [Dim. of {Pike}.] [Written also {pickerell}.] 1. A young or small pike. [Obs.]
Bet [better] is, quoth he, a pike than a pickerel. --Chaucer.
2. (Zo["o]l.) (a) Any one of several species of freshwater fishes of the genus {Esox}, esp. the smaller species. (b) The glasseye, or wall-eyed pike. See {Wall-eye}.
Note: The federation, or chain, pickerel ({Esox reticulatus}) and the brook pickerel ({Esox Americanus}) are the most common American species. They are used for food, and are noted for their voracity. About the Great Lakes the pike is called pickerel.
{Pickerel weed} (Bot.), a blue-flowered aquatic plant ({Pontederia cordata}) having large arrow-shaped leaves. So called because common in slow-moving waters where pickerel are often found.
Sauger \Sau"ger\, n. (Zo["o]l.) An American fresh-water food fish ({Stizostedion Canadense}); -- called also {gray pike}, {blue pike}, {hornfish}, {land pike}, {sand pike}, {pickering}, and {pickerel}.
Pike \Pike\, n. [F. pique; perhaps of Celtic origin; cf. W. pig a prick, a point, beak, Arm. pik pick. But cf. also L. picus woodpecker (see {Pie} magpie), and E. spike. Cf. {Pick}, n. & v., {Peak}, {Pique}.] 1. (Mil.) A foot soldier's weapon, consisting of a long wooden shaft or staff, with a pointed steel head. It is now superseded by the bayonet.
2. A pointed head or spike; esp., one in the center of a shield or target. --Beau. & Fl.
3. A hayfork. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] --Tusser.
4. A pick. [Prov. Eng.] --Wright. Raymond.
5. A pointed or peaked hill. [R.]
6. A large haycock. [Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell.
7. A turnpike; a toll bar. --Dickens.
8. (Zo["o]l.) sing. & pl. A large fresh-water fish ({Esox lucius}), found in Europe and America, highly valued as a food fish; -- called also {pickerel}, {gedd}, {luce}, and {jack}.
Note: Blue pike, grass pike, green pike, wall-eyed pike, and yellow pike, are names, not of true pike, but of the wall-eye. See {Wall-eye}.
{Gar pike}. See under {Gar}.
{Pike perch} (Zo["o]l.), any fresh-water fish of the genus {Stizostedion} (formerly {Lucioperca}). See {Wall-eye}, and {Sauger}.
{Pike pole}, a long pole with a pike in one end, used in directing floating logs.
{Pike whale} (Zo["o]l.), a finback whale of the North Atlantic ({Bal[ae]noptera rostrata}), having an elongated snout; -- called also {piked whale}.