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# herring

«herring» in Mova's school dictionary: **a small silver fish that lives in big groups in the North…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a herring, herring or herrings)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A herring is a small silver fish that lives in big groups in the North Atlantic and other cold seas. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/herring/#m1)

2) Herring is also the fish eaten as food, often smoked (a kipper) or pickled. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/herring/#m2)

3) A red herring is a clue or fact that leads you the wrong way, on purpose or by accident. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/herring/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In science, herring are an example of a fish that swims in shoals and is eaten by seals, whales and seabirds — a link in a food chain. In history, herring fishing made many coastal towns rich. In stories and mysteries, «a red herring» is a false clue that distracts the reader or detective. In maths problems, a red herring is a number in the question that you do not need. Phrases: «a shoal of herring», «pickled herring», «red herring», «packed like herrings».

### examples

- A shoal of herring flashed silver in the sea. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/herring/#x1)
- Grandad eats pickled herring on toast. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/herring/#x2)
- A smoked herring is called a kipper. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/herring/#x3)
- Puffins and seals eat herring. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/herring/#x4)
- The muddy footprint was a red herring; the thief came in through the window. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/herring/#x5)
- This word problem has a red herring: the age of the bus driver does not matter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/herring/#x6)
- The fishing boats came back full of herring. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/herring/#x7)

### note

Plural: «herring» or «herrings»; «herring» is common for fish in the sea and as food. «Red herring» is an idiom: it is not a real red fish. In maths word problems, look out for red herrings — extra numbers you should not use.

### In the corpora

- [Young gulls are brown and speckled; a herring gull takes about four years to look fully grown up.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/223-gulls-chip-thieves-rain-dances-and-salty-water/13/)
- [Answering a different question to dodge the real one is called a red herring; good interviewers ask the question again.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man/14/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «herring» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/herring/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.