A small freshwater fish in the carp family, commonly found in European rivers and streams; also informal slang for a chubby or round-faced person.
From Middle English 'chubby,' which has uncertain origins but possibly relates to the fish's thick, rounded body shape. The term has been used since the 1500s to describe this specific fish species.
Chubs are fascinating because they're one of the few fish species that actually thrive better in human-polluted rivers than in pristine ones—they're ecological opportunists, which is why they've remained common even as other fish have disappeared.
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