dace
noun/deɪs/
Etymology Old variant of earlier darse, from Late Middle English darse (also as dace already), from Old French darz, oblique plural form of dart (“spear; javelin”). For a similar loss of r, compare bass, while for the pronunciation with /eɪ/, see scarce.
1
A shoal-forming fish of species Leuciscus leuciscus, common to swift rivers in England and Wales and in Europe.
- Somewhere near at hand, though out of sight, there was a clear, slow-moving stream where dace were swimming in the pools under the willow trees.1949, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Part One, Chapter 3:
2
US Any of various related small fish of the family Cyprinidae that live in freshwater and are native to North America.
- Derived terms
- dacelike, honed dace, Japanese dace, sea dace