sardine

noun

1. Any one of several species of small herring which are commonly preserved in olive oil or in tins for food, especially the pilchard, or European sardine (Sardina pilchardus, syn. Clupea pilchardus). The American sardines of the Atlantic coast are mostly the young of the Atlantic herring and of the menhaden.

   “They feasted on premium sardines packed in olive oil, as did their hunting dogs, who insisted on joining the meal.”

2. (figuratively)Someone packed or crammed into a small space.

   “They watched bemused as countless sardines disgorged from a railway car that was never designed to hold so many passengers.”

3. (obsolete)Carnelian.
4. Dark-brown sard.
5. A member of the Italian grassroots political movement organized to protest against the right-wing surge in the country and the political rhetoric of Matteo Salvini.

   “A new grassroots movement called ‘sardines’ is fighting against Italy's rightwing strongman Matteo Salvini across the nation after a spectacular launch in Bologna last week.”

   “But they might need more than prayer to effectively compete with the Sardines, who in the last month have packed themselves tightly in ever-increasing numbers into piazzas in city after Italian city.”

   “The nonpartisan “Sardines” movement organized mass protests against the reemergence of the far right in Italy and re-energized politics in the run up to the regional elections that were held in Emilia Romagna in January.”

   “As demonstrated by the mobilizations that have taken place in recent months, as in the case of the Sardine, the invisibles of Aboubakahr as well as the Friday’s For Future or anti-racist movements, the involvement of political institutions is almost non-existent. ¶ In Italy, active participation is in fact not supported by political parties.”

verb

1. (intransitive, literally)To fish for sardines.

   “No one on Monhegan says they saw them, but a man sardining says he saw it headed there, or at least some boat with people atop it.”

2. (broadly, figuratively, transitive)to pack or cram together tightly.

   “Six-foot- four McMichael (a past master at the art of sardining) not only crammed enough clothes for the trip into the mighty midget, but carried a full set of golf clubs and a banjo, as well!”

   “Would it be unbearably elitist to suggest that they would be more enjoyable still if the director removed a row or two of chairs, instead of sardining as many listeners as possible into the intimate music room?”

   “There were already six members of the Nureyev family living in a room sixteen meters square, the children sardined on one mattress on the floor, their parents separated by only a curtain.”

adj

1. Characteristic of a sardius.

   “And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.”