Pufferfishes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Fish with the ability to rapidly inflate themselves with water or air when threatened, causing their bodies to swell into a round shape
2. A marine or brackish-water fish that defends itself by filling its body with water to become a spiky or smooth globe
3. Any of various fish capable of expanding their bodies to a dramatic size by drawing in water as a protective mechanism against predators

Etymology: The plural "pufferfishes" is the form of "pufferfish," a compound of "puffer" and "fish." The "fish" half is an old inheritance: it comes from Old English "fisċ," which goes back to a Proto-Germanic root shared by the modern German "Fisch." The "puffer" half is the more interesting part. It is built from the verb "puff," an English word for blowing out air in short bursts, with the agent suffix "-er" attached, so a puffer is literally something that puffs. The "-er" ending has its own long journey. It descends from a Latin suffix, "-arius," which passed through Old French "-ier" and reached Middle English as "-er," the same pattern found in words like "baker" and "singer." English speakers therefore added it to "puff" in exactly the way they had long added it to other verbs. The name is a plain description of the fish's most famous trick: when threatened, it swallows water or air and inflates its body into a rounded, spiny ball.

Synonyms: pufferfish, blowfish, globefish