Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Sense: 1
Date: 1400-1500
Origin: Origin unknown.
Sense: 2
Date: 1500-1600
Origin: Probably from German schurke 'bad man'; influenced by SHARK1

shark

 noun
     
shark
Related topics: Fish
shark [countable]
1 plural shark or sharksHBF a large sea fish with several rows of very sharp teeth that is considered to be dangerous to humans:
Sharks were circling around our boat.
shark-infested waters (=waters where there are a lot of sharks)
2 informal someone who cheats other people out of money
pool/card shark (=someone who uses their skill at pool or cards to cheat other players out of money)
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary