minnow

noun

1. Any of certain small fish.

   “I have obſerved, as I have ſat by a ſpout of vvater, vvhich decſends from a ſtone trough about tvvo feet into a ſtream belovv, at particular ſeaſons of the year, a great number of little fiſh called minums, or pinks, throvv themſelves about tvventy times their ovvn length out of the vvater, expecting to get into the trough above.”

   “I wonder King George is let venture down on this coast, where he might be snapped up in a moment like a minnow by a her'n, so near as we be to the field of Boney's vagaries!”

   “During the past week he had indulged in sundry sly purchases, […] They included […] a remarkable collection of fishing tackle, which the sporting-goods man had declared fitted to catch anything that swam, from a whale to a minnow.”

2. Any of certain small fish.

   “Most minnows are small fish with cycloid scales, soft rays supporting their fins, and toothless jaws. Some possess barbels on their upper jaw, and many species develop nuptial tubercles during the breeding season. […] Minnows are arguably the most difficult group of freshwater fishes to identify, in part because they are often small and thus the characters distinguishing them are correspondingly small.”

3. Any of certain small fish.
4. (US)Any of certain small fish.
5. (Australia, New-Zealand)Any of certain small fish.
6. (British, regional)Any of certain small fish.

   “In quiet, sheltered places, where the water is clear but does not run too swiftly, the ‘minnie,’ as the stickleback is locally called, makes its nest by the bank. […] On these fibres the ova are deposited, and they are then either purposely partly covered with sand by the minnie, or else the particles that are brought down by the current gather over the bundle of fibres and conceal it, excepting one small spot.”

7. (figuratively)A person or thing of relatively little consequence, importance, or value.

   “Let him denie that there was another shewe made of the little minnow his Brother, Dodrans Dicke, at Peter-houſe, called, Duns furens. Dick Harvey in a frenſie.”

   “Heare you this Triton of the Minnoues?”

   “[H]e was in the receipt of some per centage on its dealings; and, participating in all its facilities for the employment of money to advantage, was considered, by the minnows among the tritons of the East, a rich man.”

   “Having spent more than £500,000 on players last summer, Crawley can hardly be classed as minnows but they have still punched way above their weight and this kind of performance means no-one will relish pulling them out of the hat in Sunday's draw.”

   “[…]Swed House signed contracts with Ikea's former production sites, swelling from being an online retailer into an operation employing 100 people and running 10 shops across Russia and Belarus[…] . But it remains a minnow compared with its Swedish predecessor, which employed 15,000 people and made $1.5bn in revenues during its last financial year in Russia.”

8. (especially, figuratively)A person or thing of relatively little consequence, importance, or value.
9. An artificial bait in the form of a small fish.

   “[…] I have (which I will show you) an artificial minnow, that will catch a trout as well as an artificial fly, and it was made by a handsome woman that had a fine hand, and a live minnow lying by her: […]”

adj

1. (rare)Very small; tiny.

verb

1. (intransitive)To fish for minnows (noun sense 1 and subsenses).
2. (intransitive)To fish, especially for trout, using minnows as bait.