Etymology From Middle English samoun, samon, saumon, from Anglo-Norman saumon, from Old French saumon, from Latin salmō, salmōn-. Widely displaced native Middle English lax, from Old English leax (whence modern dialectal lax). The unpronounced l was later inserted to make the word appear closer to its Latin root (compare words like debt, indict, receipt for the same spelling Latinizations). The verb sense “ride a bicycle the wrong way down a one-way street” alludes to salmon swimming upstream against the flow of a river to spawn.
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Biology, Natural sciences, Zoology One of several species of fish, typically of the Salmoninae subfamily, brownish above with silvery sides and delicate pinkish-orange flesh; they ascend rivers to spawn.
grilled salmon
salmon paté
1 more example
salmon steak
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A meal or dish made from this fish.
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A pale pinkish-orange colour, the colour of cooked salmon.
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The upper bricks in a kiln which receive the least heat.
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Cockney, Slang snout (tobacco; from salmon and trout)
Got any salmon?1992, “Ebeneezer Goode”, performed by The Shamen:
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Sri Lanka canned fish, usually mackerel.
Tinned mackerel is confusingly called ‘salmon’ in Sri Lanka. So this dish, in Sinhalese, is salmon hodi, or salmon in gravy. Now that I think on it, all tinned fish in Sri Lanka is called salmon.2018 July 29, Chath Ginige, “Spicy Mackerel Curry”, in akkis kitchen (blog), archived from the original on 23 Jul 2019:
With a thick gravy made up of onions, tomatoes, spices, and coconut milk this Sri Lankan salmon curry might breathe new life to those canned mackerels on your shelf.2018, Jehan Yusoof, “Sri Lankan canned fish curry(tin fish).”, in Island Smile (blog), archived from the original on 18 Jun 2025:
1 more example
We manufacture canned markerel fish (salmon)2023 April 25, u/LNPOVCO, “What is the liquid in local canned salmon tins?”, in Reddit, r/srilanka:
Etymology From Middle English samoun, samon, saumon, from Anglo-Norman saumon, from Old French saumon, from Latin salmō, salmōn-. Widely displaced native Middle English lax, from Old English leax (whence modern dialectal lax). The unpronounced l was later inserted to make the word appear closer to its Latin root (compare words like debt, indict, receipt for the same spelling Latinizations). The verb sense “ride a bicycle the wrong way down a one-way street” alludes to salmon swimming upstream against the flow of a river to spawn.
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Having a pale pinkish-orange colour.
Smiley and Guillam perched disconsolately beneath it, on a bench of salmon velvet.1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society, published 2010, page 155:
salmon
verb
Etymology From Middle English samoun, samon, saumon, from Anglo-Norman saumon, from Old French saumon, from Latin salmō, salmōn-. Widely displaced native Middle English lax, from Old English leax (whence modern dialectal lax). The unpronounced l was later inserted to make the word appear closer to its Latin root (compare words like debt, indict, receipt for the same spelling Latinizations). The verb sense “ride a bicycle the wrong way down a one-way street” alludes to salmon swimming upstream against the flow of a river to spawn.
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Slang To ride a bicycle the wrong way down a one-way street.
2014: "Salmon, Don't Shoal: Learning The Lingo Of Safe Cycling" by Marc Silver, NPR Some cities discourage salmoning with clever signage, like this in London: "If you can read this you are biking the wrong way."