1. Any of several marine food fishes related to cod.
2. Lean-fleshed fish similar to cod.
3. Any of various marine fishes of the cod family, found in N European, African, and American waters. They have silvery, elongated bodies and attain a length of 1 m/3 ft. They have two dorsal fins and one long anal fin. The silver hake Merluccius bilinearis is an important food fish.